Life in Inkopolis: The Tournament
by ARandomInterloper
Summary: The Tournament is on, but outside forces have their eyes on the competition. The question remains of why remains a mystery, but whatever they're planning, it's nothing our heroes can't handle...right?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: While it's not required, I advise reading my previous stories to know what's going on and who many of these characters are.**

 **Life in Inkopolis: The Tournament**

Chapter 1: Preparation

 **Ammo Knights Training Grounds…**

The team just made it to the training grounds and in good time. Sarah looked over to her team. It was comprised of her, her Octoling boyfriend Guyver, Army Girl Sylvia, and the shy Octoling Octim.

"What's first, Captain?!" Sylvia excitedly asked Sarah.

"Wait, I thought I was Captain." Guyver said, confused. "I mean, I have the cool helmet."

"Well, of course I'm Captain." Sarah told him. "After all, I got the majority of the team together."

"True…" He admitted. "Though maybe we could be co-Captains?"

"I don't know…" Sarah pondered it. "I mean, why should I?"

Guyver then pulled her in close enough for a kiss, but just grinned.

"Can we get a little space, please?" He asked them.

They backed away.

"Because I'd like to be on equal footing with you." He stated. "Also, I am the only one with actual military training, doubt Sylvia actually has any, so I just thought you'd like it if someone in a position of power on the team had the know-how to effectively lead a squad."

"True," Sarah admitted. "But remember your army's military training lost to an old squid, pop stars, and 14-year-olds. Maybe if I'm captain, you'll improve a lot more than you ever did under Cass."

"Hm…" He took a second to think about that. "Very well, but I will constantly be undermining your authority with cute nicknames for you, Saralicious."

Sarah cringed at that nickname.

"A-alright…" She agreed. "But come up with better names than that one."

"I'll sure try…" He said before planting a kiss.

"Umm…are we training soon?" Sylvia interrupted.

"Right!" Sarah let go of Guyver. "Now let's go Team…Team…"

Sarah paused a second.

"We don't have a team name, do we?" Sarah asked.

Guyver took a second to think. "…No, we don't…"

"Team names are important!" Sylvia added. "It helps identify who we are as well as gives us a 60% boost in confidence during battle! The perfect name will help us play better!"

The two were pretty sure she made that last part up, but they still agreed with her.

They then sat down to come up with a name.

"Ink Busters!" Sarah came up with. "…No…

"Spicy Cephalopods!" Guyver came up with. "…Nah…"

"Soldier Squids!" Sylvia came up with.

"Maybe not that one…" Guyver said. "The only army-obsessed one is you."

"Oh...okay." Sylvia agreed.

"Cirrina Squad?" Tim suggested. "I mean, half of us are from Cirrina Countryside and I'm pretty sure we all have some connection to an army."

"That works." Guyver said.

"Yeah." Sarah agreed.

"I like your style, Private!" Sylvia told him.

"Th-thanks." Tim said.

"Now that all distractions are out of the way, can we train?" Sylvia asked.

"Yup!" Sarah confirmed. "So we're gonna practice with our weapons: My and Guyver's Brushes, your Bamboozler, and Tim's…what weapon do you have?"

"A splattershot…Jr…" He admitted. "I just started…"

"…Okay, we'll spend half of our training time practicing in the training grounds, and the other half in Turf Wars." Guyver announced. "Experience is the best teacher. Second best is pain judging from my experience."

"Then let's begin!" Sarah cheered.

 **Octo Canyon…**

"Ahoy, Agent 3!" Cap'n Cuttlefish greeted her. "What brings you here?"

Beth walked over to Cap'n Cuttlefish. He was sitting next to Callie and Marie. Callie had headphones on while Marie was reading a book.

"Just coming here to check on things while Mei plays Turf Wars with her friend." Beth explained. "She's apparently good with Dualies, but she needs to level up so she can have some first."

"Things are fine here for now." The Cap'n told her. "From what I've heard, you should be checkin' on the tournament."

"Right…" Beth said. "It's just that we have no leads on who the spy could be or why they're interested in the tournament."

"Well, just keep yer eyes peeled." He said. "Ya can't be too sure who to trust these days."

"Oh, and congrats on the thing with Mei!" Callie took her headphones off and said.

"Thanks." Beth said to Callie.

"You're dating Mei, 4's dating Guyver, Callie's dating 4.5," Marie said. "…And I'm still single…"

"You'll find someone, I'm sure." Beth assured her.

"Probably an Octoling." Callie guessed. "I mean, half the people on our staff are dating Octolings."

"Right." Marie rolled her eyes. "And where would I find said Octoling?"

"Careful Marie…" Callie warned. "Arnold got seduced by an Octarian prisoner. It could happen with the one we have here."

"Callie, gross." Marie groaned. "He's waaaay too old for me."

"Yeah, Imma hafta agree with her." DJ Octavio said. "After three marriages, I think I'm done."

"Three?" Beth raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"Died, Died, left me." Octavio told her. "And no, I don't wanna talk about it."

"Right…" Beth said. "Anyway, where's Arnold? We're supposed to practice for the tournament soon."

"He's patrolling Octo Canyon." Marie told her. "He's making up for his failure at guard duty with some reconnaissance."

"Oh yeah…" Beth recalled. "So he really kissed Cass?"

"Kissed?" Callie's eyes widened. "I saw the video. It was a full-on make out session, tongue and everything!"

"Wow." Beth was surprised. "Cass must've really messed with him that night."

"The poor lad…" The Cap'n shook his head. "That lass played him like a guitar."

"Yeah, I should really apologize again." Marie sighed. "I've been a little hard on him lately..."

"Well, I'm going to Grizzco." Beth turned to leave. "If we can't practice, I might as well earn some cash."

"Have fun!" Callie waved goodbye.

"Don't get eaten." Octavio said sarcastically. "Octo forbid y'all make me happy."

 **Inkopolis Plaza…**

"So why are we over here?" Sam asked. "Hardly anyone goes here anymore."

"And the ones who do tend to use illegally modified gear." Damien added.

"Because the Ammo Knights training grounds will be empty." Otis explained. "Perfect for practicing strategies in secret."

"Not a bad plan." Ivan admitted. "Let's check with the staff."

"I thought the Ammo Knights here closed when Sheldon moved the store." Damien remarked.

"It did, but Sheldon's grandpa still owns the property." Otis told him. "I'm sure he'll be glad to see the old training grounds get some use."

"Outside of being a place for couples to make out…" Ivan mumbled.

They entered in the shop to find an elderly horseshoe crab in an electric wheelchair. He wasn't moving.

"Hello?" Otis asked.

"He's not dead, is he?" Sam asked.

Ivan then went up and poked his head a few timed. The old crab shot awake.

"Hello, Ammoses!" Ivan said loud enough so he could hear. "We'd like to use the training grounds!"

Ammoses slowly raised his head and nodded. He turned his chair around and led them to the training grounds. He pressed a button that automatically opened the door and mumbled something incoherent.

"Thank you!" Otis said. "Oh, and Sheldon says hi!"

He slowly raised his shaking hand and mumbled something incoherent.

"Wow, what dedication to his work." Damien admired.

"I hope he doesn't die while we're using the training grounds." Ivan said.

"Ivan!" Otis glared at him. "Seriously?!"

"What?" Ivan asked. "Would you want to break the news to Sheldon?"

"If he does, I'll break the news." Sam decided.

"On a lighter topic," Otis changed the subject. "Damien, let's see what you came up with!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Preparation Part 2

 **Zander's Beats…Sarah's POV**

I walked in the store to find Clair organizing CDs.

"Hey, Clair!" I got her attention. "I have a squad and we've been training for the tournament. We need the perfect music to train to."

"Well, some Wet Floor never hurts." Clair said. "Chirpy Chips got back together fairly recently. Bottom Feeders is also good."

"You always know what I want." I complimented.

I grabbed that CD and headed over to checkout. Claire headed over to scan me out.

"So who's on your team?" She asked.

"There's Tim, Sylvia, and my boyfriend Guyver." I told her.

"Wait, was that the guy you were crushing on?" She looked at me.

"Oh yeah," I haven't told her yet. "We're going out now."

"Congrats." She said. "Surprised you didn't invite that brother of yours."

"He already has a team." I explained. "Sibling rivalries have to start sometime, right?"

"…Yeah…" Her face reminded me of when Gramps would have a war flashback. "A-anyway, cash or card?"

"I finally got a card." I handed it to her. "So you have siblings?"

"Uh-yeah…" She replied.

"Where are they?" I asked. "I only see you here."

"One moved to the countryside…we had a falling out…" She explained. "I don't know where the rest are…"

The look on her face worried me.

"Do you wanna watch us train?" I asked. "Give ya somethin' to do."

"…Eh, why not?" She shrugged. "My shift ends soon anyway…"

A few minutes later, Clair walked with me to the training grounds. I went in first while she got some snacks first. By the time she got in, we already started training to some Chirpy Chips in the background. I occasionally looked over to make sure some of our ink wasn't heading her way. It did sometimes, but she must have great reflexes to dodge while still looking relaxed. I wish I could be so chill sometimes.

 **Guyver's POV**

"Alright Sarah!" I called out. "So we circle around opposite sides and distract enemies while Octim and Sylvia cover ground in the middle. Then, any still there we've already flanked on both sides!"

"Some call that a Ligo Maneuver!" Sylvia brought up some war trivia. "Naming it after Gerald Ligo, who popularized some brush strategies during the war!"

"Gerald Ligo?" Sarah recognized the name. "That's my grandpa!"

"I love this team!" Sylvia cheered.

After we finished, I took a sip of my drink to find an Octoling watching us.

"Uh…hello." I walked over. "Who are you?"

"Oh…hi" She noticed me. "I'm Clair. I work at Zander's Beats. Sarah asked if I could watch. You guys seem pretty good."

"Clair?" I noticed the name. "Do you know a Chloe?"

"That's my sister's name." She told me. "We had a falling out and she moved to the countryside…why?"

"…Then you're all accounted for…" I noted.

"What do you mean…?" Her eyes widened. "You know where the rest are?!"

"You may want to sit down for this…" I told her.

"I'm tougher than I look." She assured me. "You can tell me."

I took a deep breath.

"Catherine, Carly, Carla, Casey, and Cynthia are dead...in a way." I explained. "They were blended into paste and used as obstacles in an underground testing facility. There are a few people I know who are working part-time to see if what happened to them can be reversed, but they currently function as mindless drones."

"…I need to sit down…" She slumped down.

"Told ya." I said. "Since you were here, I just thought you'd like to know."

"…Thanks…" She said. "At least I have some closure now…"

"…One more thing…" I said a bit hesitantly.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Since your disappearance, Cassandra has become the Captain to a Sector Commander's personal squad." I explained further.

"What…?" Her eyes widened.

"Cass became an Elite." I told her. "…I-I just thought you'd like to know…"

I walked out the door. She may not like it, but she needed to know.

 **Sarah's POV**

"Hey, where'd Guyver go?" I looked around.

I turned to see Clair next to the door.

"Hey Clair," I walked over. "Have you seen…Clair?"

She seemed to be crying.

"Clair?" I put a hand on her shoulder.

"She became an Elite…" She mumbled. "She always said she would…"

"What?" I was confused.

She looked up at me. She was smiling, but still crying.

"O-one w-way of another…" She sniffled. "My little Cassie became an Elite…"

I hugged her as her tears started to flow freely. What was she talking about? She knows Cass?

 **Crust Bucket…Shortly After**

I got Clair a drink. Guyver found us and sat down. I slapped him for making Clair cry, but Clair told me to apologize as she started to explain.

"I was the big sister of a Tube-grown batch called C-Group." Clair explained. "We all came out at the same time, but there's one sibling that's always treated as the eldest. Cass however...came out later than the rest of us did, so she became the little sister."

"Wow..." I had to sit for this. "Cass is your sister..."

"Yeah…" Clair said. "But our history is less than happy."

"With how Cass is, I can tell." I said. "You know why?"

"It's a mixture of her stubbornness, things out of her control, and our treatment of her." She explained. "I wasn't the best person back in the day…"

"She often talked about how much you guys sucked." Guyver remarked. "Right before she'd beat me to the ground and tell me I'd never amount to anything."

"Yeah, that's basically our fault…" She lamented. "It took her so long to make any significant progress that some of us started telling her to just give up. She never did though…"

"Wait…" I stopped her. "Let me guess…every time she told people they were pathetic, useless, or runts, it had something to do with you guys."

"Most likely." She said. "We got tired of her behavior and she downright hated us. After one incident, I actually tried setting her on a different path, but at that point, she hated us so much and was so set on proving that we were wrong about her that she took it as an insult. Since then she stopped calling me sister, preferring 'bitch.' She called all of us that from then on."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." I told her. "You've probably changed a lot since then."

"I have…" She took a sip of her drink. "But I hope someday I can fix my mistakes…and she was my biggest one."

"What about Chloe?" Guyver asked. "What was your falling out about?"

"After the…concert… I told one my squadmates to find my other sisters while I left with Cloe and a few others." She explained. "We never saw them again and feared the worst. Chloe blamed me, saying I 'left them behind,' and she left for the countryside, saying she never wanted to see me again."

"Well, maybe that can change in the future." I said. "She can't stay mad forever."

"Maybe…" She took another sip. "Well Sarah, I'd ask you how you know all this, but I think I've had enough heavy subjects for one day."

She started to get up.

"Alright." I agreed. "I guess we should go too then…"

Right when we were leaving, she stopped Guyver. I could hear the conversation they had.

"You told me the news, so I'll ask you…" She told him. "I-if you see Cass again...could you tell her that her sister loves her and wants her back?"

"…I will." He assured her.

That would require us seeing Cass again, which…wouldn't go well…but if it makes Clair happy, then I'll support his decision.

For now though, we have spies and a tournament to deal with.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Preparation Part 3

 **Mei's POV**

I can't believe this…Beth and Otis got into another heated argument and now we're challenging his team to a simple Turf War game on Moray Towers. I only met the other squids on Otis's team once.

"Beth?" I asked. "Bethany?"

"Hm?" She was zoned out. "Something on your mind?"

"Do we really have to do this?" I asked. "I get you don't like Otis that much, but do we really have to do this? I mean, you have a weird distaste of Otis and Ivan a bit, but the rest of us don't really have anything against them."

"Well, outside of showing them who's boss," Beth explained, readying her Splattershot. "We'll get a preview of what to expect during the tournament."

"Well, I can't argue with the last part." I remarked.

"So how about you, Arnold?" Beth asked.

"As long as you keep it a friendly sparring match." He said, prepping his Charger.

"And you, Zoey?" She looked towards Zoey.

"Atatatata-" She was pretending to fire off her Duelies.

"Well, we're doing this." Beth said. "Since there're n-"

"Hey!" Otis called out. "So are we starting or what?"

"Yeah!" She yelled out. "We were just-"

"Boring us to tears!" Ivan interrupted.

"I'm splatting him." Beth stated.

The match then started. I immediately darted down the side to ink the path downwards. I needed to keep my wits about me. I had no idea what to expect. Then, I saw Zoey get splatted.

"Aaaaawwww, I suck!" She whined as she flew back to spawn. "I'm gonna splat 'em!"

I kept inking the floor with my Octoshot Replica until I got to the bottom. I then turned to see the other team. Otis and Ivan both had Rollers, Damien had a Charger, and Sammie had an Aerospray.

Ivan soon headed my way. I fired my weapon at him, but somehow he kept dodging my shots, smirking all the way. He got right up in my face as I ran out of ink. He just studied my face for a second, his eyes staring coldly from behind his sunglasses. He then smirked.

"Not sure how you managed to land someone like Beth…" He finally said. "But hey, anything to show there's more to her than work and ranked."

He then raised his Roller, but Beth came in right on time. She kept firing as he was somehow dodging her shots too.

"Why. Won't. You. Splat?!" Apparently Beth's had the same problem I did.

"Why. Can't. You. Aim?" He jokingly asked as he seemed to be doing cartwheels back to Beth's annoyance.

I dropped into my ink to refill. I didn't have long since Sam ran over to cover my spots. I jumped out and fired at her. I must've caught her off-guard since I managed to splat her. Unfortunately, that must've caught Damien's attention as I got splatted a second later.

I respawned to find our teams were fairly evenly matched. Around the same amount of area was inked with the exception of trails made by Beth trying to catch up to Ivan, right before Otis dropped down from above and splatted her. She flew back to spawn, clearly not happy.

"I'm gonna splat 'em!" She readied her Splattershot.

This wasn't going to end well.

Soon enough, the match ended. We won, but barely.

"Ha!" Zoey Cheered. "We won!"

"Yeah…" Beth grumbled. She spent the entire match trying and failing to splat Ivan

"Well done." Ivan clapped. "You couldn't splat me, but you won the match."

"Please stop…" Beth was fed up with him.

"Oh come on, Bethany." He leaned forward. "Relax. You did fiiiiine."

He then got punched square in the face. His sunglasses broke. Beth managed to punch him so hard I think I saw some of his hair change color for a second.

"Ivan!" Otis shouted. "Beth, what the shell?!"

Ivan had his hand over his face. That must've hurt.

"My face!" He shouted.

"You okay?" Otis asked. Even Beth looked concerned at this point.

"My face is…" He then removed his hands. "Okay!" He looked fine except for the broken shades.

"Of course it is…" Beth's concern turned to indifference.

"Beth, seriously?!" Otis snapped at her. "He trash-talked a bit, but that didn't mean you had to hit him!"

"…Sorry…" Beth mumbled.

"Hm?" Otis didn't hear her.

"I said…" She walked over to Ivan. "I'm sorry, Ivan."

"Eh, it's fine." He shrugged it off. "I've been hit harder than that. All you broke were my glasses…and my hearts."

"I'll buy you a new pair." Beth told him.

"Thanks, but word of advice…" He leaned closer. "If you lose it that easily, it'll end badly for you."

Beth seemed to be thinking about it.

"Well, just call me when you want to buy me a new pair of shades!" Ivan waved goodbye. "Bring Arnold, he knows my number! Bring your girlfriend too! We'll make a day out of it!"

"Well he took that well…" Sam noted.

"Doesn't mean I do…" Otis grumbled. "Well, I'm hungry. Anyone wants some of Crusty Sean's?"

"I could eat." Sam said.

"Me too." Damien said.

"I'm just gonna go get some rest." Arnold waved us goodbye.

"Well, I'm going to, um…stay with you guys I guess." Zoey said. "Why don't I have more things to do?!"

I left with Beth and Zoey.

"Beth, we really need to talk about your anger problem." I finally said.

"There's nothing to talk about." Bet shrugged. "I got a little angry."

"Beth, Ivan teased you, but you basically hit him because you couldn't splat him." I told her. "You also got into a fight with Otis because you got angry at each other."

"I got mad because they don't take things seriously." She tried defending herself. "Also, Otis completely ignored my orders during the Salmon Run."

"Maybe you take things too seriously." I said. "Maybe he thought you were being too controlling. I mean, you did put yourself in charge back there."

"What are you saying?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm saying maybe relax a bit?" I suggested. "Take it easy?"

"Mei, after so many incompetent teammates, unbalanced Salmon Runs, and awful Splatoon missions, it'll take a lot to make me relax." Beth told me.

"How about a spa?" Zoey suggested.

"A spa?" Beth asked.

"Yeah!" I cheered. "That's a great idea! I've read all about them! Massages, saunas, all meant for relaxation."

"And where would we even find one?" Beth raised an eyebrow.

"I thought we could use the one here." She pointed to a place right next to us. Jelliana's Day Spa.

"Well, that's convenient." Beth remarked.

"Well, let's try it out!" Zoey said.

"I'm not sure…" Beth hesitated.

"Come on, sweetie." I made an adorable face. "The chance to help you relax would make me soooo happy…"

Her face went red.

"O…Okay…" She agreed.

"Yay!" Zoey and I pushed her in.

"Sup squiddos?" A Jellyfish t the counter greeted us. Her name read Jelliana. "What's the sitch?"

"We'd like to help our friend relax." I told her. "Can you give us your best?"

"I've gots the fu-reshest stuff you all y'all." She told us. "Let's bounce through door numbuh one!"

"I already regret this." Beth remarked.

"Not for looong." I assured her.

Beth wasn't sure at first, but she didn't mind the seaweed face wrap with the mud bath. She seemed like she definitely needed the massage and foot rub. Eventually, it was the three of us relaxing in the sauna.

"You know what?" Beth said. "You were right. I do feel better now."

"Told ya." I said.

"Aaaaaahaaaa…" Zoey kept rubbing her face, which was smoother now thanks to the face wrap.

"I thought it'd be weird, but it was actually nice." Beth admitted.

"I actually thought you'd make it weird when we got to the sauna here." I remarked.

"How so?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, when you think about it, we are sitting here, wearing only towels." I pointed out.

Beth's face immediately went redder than the sauna already made it.

"D-did you have to point that out?" She groaned.

"Hey, I'm impressed." I told her. "You must be relaxed if I had to point that out for you. Normally you'd notice that first."

"Huh…" She said. "Guess you're right."

After a short while we left the spa. I felt like a new octopus, Zoey loved how soft her skin felt, and Beth looked like she had a load lifted off her shoulders.

"Enjoy yourselves?" A squid girl wearing a school cardigan and a beanie on her head asked. She seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Uh, yeah…we did." Beth told her.

"Well, with I heard how you are, you must've needed that." She said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met." I said.

"Oh, I'm Eileen!" She waved. "Bro told me he saw you two go in here and I thought I'd see you guys for myself."

Wait…she kind of looks like…

"Are you related to Ivan?" I asked.

"Ayuuup!" She leaned forward. "Twinzies!"

"Well, I hope you aren't as frustrating as you're brother." Beth shrugged. "Or maybe I hope you are. I wouldn't mind coming here again."

That's interesting to hear from her…

"Oh, I'm just here to have fun, same as everyone!" She assured us.

"Well, we should just head home." I said.

"We should definitely hang out sometime though!" She waved us goodbye.

"But we don't know how to call you." I pointed out.

My phone then buzzed. I pulled it out to find a text from her.

"My bro told me what your number was." She said. "See ya!"

She then left as abruptly as she appeared.

How'd Ivan know my number?

"Okay," I sighed. "That squid is seriously starting to creep me out now."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Day Before Part 1

 **Sarah's POV**

Aw geez, training yesterday was tough…I still feel exhausted.

"Hey Guyver!" I called into the other room.

"Yeah?" He called back

"You feel like practicing today?" I asked.

"…Not really." He answered.

"Me neither." I said. "Let's just relax today."

"Okay." He agreed.

I pulled out my phone.

 **4: Sylvia**

 **Soljagurl: Yeah?**

 **4:We're spending this day relaxing and having fun before the tournament.**

 **Soljagurl: Yes, Miss**

 **4: Tim. Take the day off.**

 **Octim: K**

 **4: Also, you need a new screen name. One that screams, "You."**

 **MusiclovR: How's this?**

 **4: Nice! :D**

 **MusiclovR: Thanks :)**

I lied down on the couch. I can't think of much to do other than being lazy.

I then felt something else…Guyver lied down right next to me. He was almost lying on top of me.

"Guyver?" I stared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I saw you lying down on the couch and thought, 'Wow that looks nice'." He explained. "I thought this'd be a comfy place to lie down."

He wrapped his arms around me.

"So what do ya got planned for today?" I asked.

"Well, my dear Sarah." He put on his 'I'm planning something' voice. "Since we've nothing to do today, I thought I might as well take you somewhere."

"Oh yeah," I said. "We haven't been on a proper date since the mall."

"So where might a pretty young lady like you want to go?" He asked.

"We could walk around the city." I suggested. "Find something to do."

"A delightful choice." He agreed.

"Okay, what's with the voice?" I asked. "Sometimes you sound fine while other times you purposefully sound devious."

"It's just a thing I do." He told me. "I'm barely consistent with it."

"Well, we better get going." I tried to get up, but he held me tightly. "G-Guyver…"

"Just a few more minutes…" He said. "This feels nice…"

He wasn't wrong…

 **Wahoo World…Guyver's POV**

We decided to walk around Wahoo World for a bit while we were wandering around the city. We went on a few rides, but it was mostly walking around.

"Not as exciting as those tests you showed me." Beth remarked.

"Yeah…" I agreed. "When you ride ink rails and pretty much fly through the air, some rides lose their luster. Well, I assume since this is the first time I've seen these rides.

"Something I've been thinking…" Sarah said. "If those things in the test chambers were once living Octarians, and they're being reformed for the tests, do you think they can be brought back?"

"I'm honestly not sure." I told her. "Marina certainly thinks it's possible, but she wants to wait until she can fully hack into the facility and make them non-hostile before she can try to work on them."

"What do you think?" She asked.

"As I said, I'm not sure." I said. "If it is possible, I doubt the green skin, blue hair, and weird eyes can be reversed. We also don't know how long he's been blending people, so some of the sanitized Octarians in there could theoretically be over a hundred years old. Imagine them coming to life to realize that…"

"Geez…" She mumbled.

"…Well, on lighter topics," I wanted to change the subject. "I wonder if there's a tunnel of love here."

"There isn't." She told me.

"Drat." I groaned. "And I was looking forward to a little romance on this date."

"There'll be plenty of time for that." She assured me. "Just later."

We decided to wander the city some more. We stopped when we saw Mei and Beth leave a building. Beth looked relaxed while Mei looked a little concerned.

"You okay?" I called out.

"Oh, Guyver!" Mei noticed us. "Yeah, it's just that we wanted to help Beth relax in the spa and she's getting a little carried away with it. This is the fourth time we've been here this week."

"I'm fine." Beth assured us. "It just helps me relax in a way that doesn't involve me buying a pack."

"Is that why you've taken us here three times this week?!" Mei glared at her.

"I guess we need some context?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah…" Mei sighed.

"Just bring it down a notch, Beth." I told her. "Spas are expensive."

"Yeah, Yeah." Beth said. "I already heard it from Mei and I promised I'd tone it down."

"We settled on once a week." Mei told us. "I just let her splurge on this week since she doesn't really take time to let herself relax; Splatoon work and all."

"Speaking of which…" I said. "Any leads on whom the Octarian spy is or why the Octarians are interested in the tournament?"

"Well, our current theory is they want to identify who the strongest fighters in Inkopolis are." Beth explained. "We also believe the spy may be a contestant in the tournament, so we're doing checks on any Octolings in the tournament."

"Why only Octolings?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It's not what you think." Beth assured us. "It's just that we don't think the Octarian Menace would use Inklings to spy on other Inklings and knowing what we know about Sieg, he could be using the recent flux of Octolings into Inkopolis to his advantage."

Of course she uses the term "menace."

"But our current largest issue is the energy crisis going on in our settlements." I told her. "You'd think they'd want to steal some Zapfish, even if it's just small ones. How does a Tournament fit into that?"

"We're still trying to figure that out." Sarah said. "So far, Sieg's lock on his intel has been pretty airtight."

"Maybe there's a way to talk to the guy." I wondered. "Maybe we can all work something out."

"From what Cass told us, that probably won't work." Beth said. "It seems he feels there's no way Inkling relations with Octarians can be repaired…and he may have a point…a lot of Inklings are pretty apathetic towards or dislike Octarians."

"Wait, I'm an Octarian and you guys like me." I reminded her.

"Yeah, and almost no one else knows." Beth told me. "Outside of the Splatoon, almost everyone thinks you're an Inkling following a hairstyle trend."

"Well, I'm fairly open about it." I told her.

"You were open to Sarah." Beth sighed. "Did you tell anyone else? Does your army squid teammate know? Do you see any other Octolings telling people they're Octolings? Does your Octoling teammate go around telling people he's an Octoling? I mean, he doesn't even take off his Goggles."

"Well, he said they were his dad's." I explained.

"Where is his dad?" Beth asked.

"He's…dead." Sarah said. "Apparently his mom never really talked about it."

"What's his mom like?" Mei asked.

"Tim says she's very nice and caring," Sarah explained. "But I've met her and while I'm sure that may be true for him, she's very hostile toward everyone else."

"Wonder why that is…" Beth seemed in thought.

"Well, onto happier subjects," I wanted to get to them. "You two on a date too?"

"Yep!" Mei held onto Beth's arm. "Wanna double-date?"

"Sure!" Sarah replied. "We're spending this day relaxing. What better way than with friends?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Day Before Part 2

 **Octo Canyon…Otis's POV**

Arnold and I were sent deep into the Canyon. Marina hacked into communications and intercepted a message that some high-ranking Octarians from Octo Gorge are going to be visiting one of the domes for some reason.

Place seemed high-security. Not Octo Gorge high, but more than Octo Canyon usual. We managed to sneak into the floating building where the officials are supposed to be coming. Now, we wait.

"Sooo, Otis." Arnold got my attention. "Um…Is Samantha single?"

"Sam?" I raised an eyebrow. "Why Sam?"

"I don't know…" He put his head in my hands. "She's just someone I somewhat know who isn't bad-looking and I want to get my head off of…"

"Cass?" I finished his sentence. "You still thinking about that?"

"Yes…oh, Cod…" He was embarrassed to admit it.

"Arnold, I get it." I told him. "But remember what kind of person Cass is. I understand you want to get your mind off of something bad that happened, but last time you tried that, Cass used you to escape captivity."

"Right…you're right…" He nodded. "I just gotta stay focused. Don't tell anyone I asked about Sammie."

"Okay I won't, now ssshhh!" I hushed him. "I think they're here."

We snuck through the vents, following the footsteps on the other side. At one room, they stopped.

"Talk to them." A female voice said. "I want to see how good you are at persuasion."

"Right..." A male voice said. "But I do this for the Octarians as a whole, not for you."

They soon entered the room

"I understand how you feel." The male voice said. "It's always hardest waking up and realizing the true state of how bad things are down here, but leaving won't help anybody."

Wait…Is he talking to Octarians who've heard the Spicy Calamari Inkantation? Is he trying to convince them to stay?

"You could leave and theoretically live a happy life, but for what?" He continued. "You'd still feel guilt in your hearts that you left friends, family, and your entire people behind. You'd live the high-life while they'd still suffer. All the while, you'd be hiding who you really are out of fear of what the Inklings would think of you. Your entire identities as Octarians being erased as you leave it behind to live like the squids."

Is…is that really how Octolings in Inkopolis feel? No, he's just making assumptions. What's surprising me though is he's trying to convince them rather than just slapping a pair of shades on them.

"So I'm asking you," He said. "Will you just endure for a little while longer? Will you please stay to help work for a better future to ensure we all don't have to suffer anymore? We can only succeed if we work together, so I'm asking you: Please reconsider your decision to leave."

We could barely hear the others, but it sounded like they were being untied.

"A wise choice that I wholeheartedly thank you for." He remarked.

As they were being walked out, we could hear one break off running. She was caught in a few seconds.

"I refuse to help you start a war!" She shouted. "It won't help us! We can't survive another loss!"

"I open my arms and you spit in my face." He sounded disappointed. "Put some shades on her."

I wanted to stop it, but Arnold stopped me and shook his head. I reluctantly agreed with him. As much as we wanted to, saving one Octoling wasn't worth jeopardizing the mission.

"I-I thought you were supposed to be merciful!" She said. "The Commander of second chances!"

"I did give you a second chance and you wasted it." He reminded her. "If you refuse help your people out of your own free will, you don't deserve to have it. Take her away."

We could hear her yelling as she was taken away.

"Please learn from her selfishness and don't repeat it." He told the others.

The others were walked in different direction.

"Not sure why you bother trying to convince them if some of them still run." That was Cass's voice. "If they run, they get what they deserve."

"Some argue I didn't give you what you deserved, but I gave you a second chance." He told Cass. "I believe in second chances for all; A chance to redeem oneself."

"Otis!" Arnold whispered. "…That's Sieg!"

"We can stop this right now!" I whispered.

"Careful now." Arnold warned. "Cass said he's tough. We need to wait for the perfect moment."

I nodded in agreement. We carefully went through the vents, following their movements. Eventually, they went in different directions. We could barely see through the grates, but we could tell which direction Sieg went in. We followed him to a computer room. He seemed to be calling someone.

"So how goes your mission?" He was speaking into a weird microphone.

"Pretty good so far." Someone using a voice changer said. "My team is sure to get me into the right place. We'll get her."

Her?

"Good. Just keep tabs on your…associates, and please don't do anything stupid." Sieg said. "Sieg out."

"Come on, it's me." The one on the other side continued. "I've been here years and still haven't been caught. And I call them fr-"

Sieg then ended the call and sighed.

"I honestly don't know how he hasn't been caught yet." He remarked. "Well, as long as he stays on track, we should be good."

That must've been the spy.

"Now!" Arnold said. "While he's alone!"

We dropped through the vents right beside him and aimed our Splattershots.

"Sieg, you're coming with us!" Arnold said.

He turned his head towards us, and then stood up. He was a tall Octoling, around Marina's height. He had black tentacles that were slicked back, the Elite Seaweed goggles and was wearing a trench coat. In fact, he was much more covered than other Octolings I've seen. He even wore a single glove on his left hand.

The way he was posturing seemed all too casual. Like he didn't care that we had weapons pointed at him.

"Arnold Illex and Otis Ligo, I assume?" He correctly guessed.

"You aren't going to start a war." I stated.

"Me?" He seemed confused. "Your kind already started this. I'm just an Octarian looking to take back what was stolen from us."

"We're just going to take you with us and have a nice little talk." I told him.

"And how exactly do you plan to escort me out of here?" He asked. "This area is under lockdown. In fact, I pressed a silent alarm already. The mistake is you believing you're the ones in control here."

The doors behind us opened. I turned around while Arnold kept his weapon aimed at Sieg. On the other side was Cass, holding a Dualie and a baseball bat.

"Just my lucky day!" She grinned.

"You won't be needing this." Sieg said while snatching Arnold's weapon faster than he could react.

Wow, he was fast. Before I knew it, he grabbed Arnold by the neck and lifted him up.

"Weapon down, Ligo." Sieg told me. "Or he dies here."

I had to do something!

"Please make the right choice." He urged me. "I hate pointless deaths."

I saw him tightening his grip on Arnold's neck. After a few seconds, I reluctantly turned to him and dropped my weapon. Sieg then dropped Arnold.

"A wise choice." Sieg said.

"Nighty night!" Cass then swung her bat.

Everything went black.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Night Before Part 1

 **Guyver's POV**

We had a full day of walking around the city, browsing stores, and having fun. We decided the last thing we'd do was go over to Beth and Mei's apartment and watching a movie. We got some pizza to enjoy during the movie. We opened the door to find Zoey playing a phone game on the couch.

"Guyver!" She ran over and tackled me. "I knew you'd come to visit me! I thought…you'd forgotten I existed…"

Like I could forget her.

"We came to watch a movie." I told her. "It's kind of a double date."

"I knew you felt the same way!" She squeezed me tightly.

"Me and Sarah!" I told her.

She let go and looked at Sarah. She stared at her coldly before changing to a happier face.

"Sarah!" She waved. "Always good to see you!"

"Uh…right." Sarah still felt uneasy around her.

"So what're we watching?" She asked. "Wait…never mind. I'll just go to the arcade for a bit. I'd just make things awkward…"

Well, she knows when she'd be a fifth wheel. That's a good sign…

"Bye Sarah, Beth, and Mei." She walked out the door. "Later, Guyver."

She then closed the door behind her.

"Are there some pills we can get her or something?" Sarah asked.

"They don't work." I told her. "They either do nothing or make her seem like she's been sanitized, and I hate the pills that do the ladder."

Then again…wait…Guyver, no.

We soon were watching the movie. It was okay, but about halfway through it, I looked over to find Beth looking bored while Mei fell asleep in her arms. She soon fell asleep too. I was honestly a bit bored at this point too.

"Hey, Sarah." I whispered. "You bored too?"

"Yeah." She looked over to me.

Then she got a mischievous look on her face. She got up and sat on my lap. She put her arms around my neck.

"Wanna make out?" She asked.

"I would, but next to them?" I asked.

"They're asleep." She said. "Movie got boring anyway, so let's have fun."

"Don't have to tell me twice." I pulled her in for a kiss.

We proceeded to have a nice makeout session. I occasionally looked over to see if Mei and Beth were still asleep. Sarah would then turn my head back around and cover my mouth with her own. Everything else would get drowned out to the point that it took me a while to notice something…the sound of chips being eaten…

Zoey came back, sat in a chair, and started watching us.

"…Seriously?!" I squinted my eyes.

"What?" Sarah turned her head around. "What the heck, Zoey?!"

"…What's it like?" She seemed genuinely curious.

"Please stop." I told her.

She looked around a bit before getting up and going to her room. "S-sorry…"

"Well, I think that's our cue to leave." Sarah said.

"Agreed." I said.

We got up off the couch, I grabbed a blanket and covered Mei and Beth with it, and then we left.

"Geez, why is she so obsessed?" I heard Sarah mumble.

"It's an Octarian society thing." I told her. "Specifically with the Tubelings."

"How so?" Sarah asked.

"Well, I grew up normally with parents and everything." I told her. "She didn't."

"And how does that relate to being obsessed?" She seemed confused.

"Well, I'm 14 and lived that many years while she is 15, but only lived over three years." I explained. "Tubelings are grown in a few months and released when fully developed. They have all necessary information pre-programmed into them, but how to feel and act on certain emotions is something they have to learn to understand since it's not something that can be uniformly taught."

"And that's why she's so clingy?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah." I replied. "Actually, since they don't how to act on their emotions, it's not uncommon for Tubelings to fall for a non-related person who shows them affection.

"Which in her case, was you." She correctly guessed.

I nodded in response.

"I'm sure she'll learn to move on." I told her. "But it will take some time. Tubelings aren't ones to give up easily, nor are they ones to take rejection lightly. I'm letting her down as gently as I can."

"So 'Tubelings' are emotional wrecks?" Sarah looked at me.

"Not all." I remarked. "However, emotional instability is more common in them due to basically being born when they're about to hit their teen years, lack of proper parental figures, and being forced into military service not long after being 'born'."

"Geez…" Sarah sighed. "That actually explains a lot about some of the Octolings I've come across."

"If you mean Cass and her sisters, yes, they are Tubelings." I told her.

"Wait, if there're no parents, how are there siblings?" She tilted her head.

"Tubelings are grown from severed tentacles put into growth tubes." I explained. "The other tentacles who come out with you are basically your siblings. The amount of siblings one has generally depends on how many troops they need in a certain area, so it's kind of random. It can range from three to fifteen depending on the amount they put in a growth tube."

"You know, I've learned so much from you." She remarked. "I've learned about how Octarians live, treat each other, grow…"

She then held onto my arm and leaned into me.

"And how they taste…"

I stared at her weirdly for a second before we both started snickering.

 **Sarah's POV**

The walk home was longer than we thought it'd be. It was getting late and we were tired. Luckily the Tournament is at 12 pm, so I won't have to worry about sleeping in. Heck, Guyver can wake me up. We soon got back to the apartment. I took a shower, brushed my beak, and changed into my jammies.

Guyver came over to give me a goodnight hug.

We then headed to bed. Something was off…

"Guyver, what are you doing in my bed?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry." He said. "I was tired, wasn't thinking, and followed you. I'll just leave."

"…It's fine." I told him. "You can stay for the night."

"Really?" He sat up.

"Yeah, why no-" I paused when I noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Uuuuuguuuh…" I was babbling nonsense.

"What?" He then looked down and noticed. "Oh, you like what you see?"

"Y-you don't sleep in your underwear, do you?" I asked to be sure.

"No, it's chilly tonight." He explained. "I just go shirtless in bed when it's chilly."

Oh, okay…wait…he said when it's chilly…

"Then what do you wear in bed when it's hot?" I wondered.

"Wear something in bed when it's hot?" He tilted his head in confusion.

It took me a few seconds to realize what he meant.

"Not in my bed!" I shouted. "Ever! (Or at least not till we're older…)"

"Okay." He agreed. "I'll buy some pajamas."

"Good." I lied back down.

"…Wow…sharing beds with my girlfriend…" He sounded like he was in awe. "I feel like I've reached the next level or something."

He lied down too.

After a few seconds, he rolled over to face me.

"So if that's what you wear in bed when it's chilly, what do you wear in bed when it's hot?" He asked.

"Really?" I turned over to glare at him.

"Hey, I told you, didn't I?" He wasn't wrong. "Shouldn't it be even?"

"…Well…I, uh…wear…" I was getting nervous. "I'll tell you if you guess correctly!"

"Shirt and panties?" He guessed correctly. "And just that?"

My face went red.

"Goodnight!" I quickly lied back down.

"Heheh!" He chuckled. "Otis was right. You are fun to tease! Well, now we both have mental images in our brains…goodnight."

He rolled back over; his back facing me.

Yeah, but I already saw you shirtless. Mine's worse because I have more to go off of.

And you had no idea what those were when you went through my drawers looking for gear. When did you find ou-Splatnet. You got on a computer and looked stuff up on the Splatnet.

Ugh…Well, hopefully I can still go to sleep after…that.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Night Before Part 2

 **Arnold's POV**

It's been hours since we got captured. We were locked in a room, chained to chairs, our stuff next to the door. I was also trying to wake Otis up.

"Otis!" I kept calling out. "Otis!"

He slowly woke up.

"W-where are we?" He looked around.

"Still in the dome." I told him. "Only chained to chairs."

"Where's Sieg?" He asked. "And why does my head…ooooowww…and stomach…hurt?"

"Sieg left and Cass knocked you out with a baseball bat." I explained. "Afterwards, she proceeded to kick you in the stomach several times and spit on your face for almost killing her that one time in Octo Canyon."

"Oh...so what now?" He asked.

"Well, luckily I brought a lockpick for in case this happened and…yep, I got my hands free." I informed him, sliding the lockpicks over. "Your turn."

He was about to use the lockpicks when the door opened. He quickly hid them under his feet. I, on the other hand, had no way to hide that I broke free. In the room came Cass, sans the baseball bat, but she still had her Dualies. She drew one when she saw me.

"Already breaking free, huh?" She smirked. "Maybe I should give ya another smooch to make ya sit back down."

"Not happening again, Cass." I told her.

"Oh, don't act like you didn't like it." She taunted me. "A real shame you broke it off when you did."

"I lost my phone because of that!" I shouted.

"You could've lost something else if you hadn't stopped it." She shrugged. "Now back in the chair."

I sat back down and looked at Otis.

He picked up the lockpicks and mouthed out: "Distract her."

I can't believe I'm going to do this…

 **Otis's POV**

Cass was about to chain him back to the chair when Arnold got back up. She aimed her Dualie at him.

"Heh, you caught me." He grinned.

"Caught you for what?" She raised an eyebrow.

"What, you think I came for Sieg?" He smirked. "Nah. I came here to see if you were here."

Now that was a lie.

"Me?" She tilted her head. "Oh, come on. I only kissed you so I could escape."

"If that were so, then why did we make out for ten minutes?" Arnold smirked. " You could of left at any time, but you waited until after I paused it. Admit it. You felt something back there. I mean, you must've even before then when you asked me what I thought of you."

"Oh, come on." Cass was unconvinced. "You only said yes to my drunken 'am I hot' question to shut me up."

"I didn't say you were hot." He said.

"Knew it." She was probably rolling her eyes.

"I said you were beautiful." He leaned in towards her.

"W-what?" She seemed startled by that.

Oh come on, Arnold. These are Cass's tricks. There's no way it'll work on her.

"R-really?" She asked.

Oh Carp, is it? Seriously?!

"Cassandra, why do you wear those goggles?" Arnold asked. "They cover your eyes."

She paused a second before raising her goggles.

"W-what do you think of them?" She raised an eyebrow.

Well, I'll use this time to pick the locks.

"Your bright, blue eyes are your best feature." He grinned. "I could look into them all day."

Cass looked around for a second before turning her head towards me and mouthing out: "What do I do?!"

I just shrugged.

"You're useless!" She mouthed out.

"Where are you looking?" Arnold asked. "I'm right here."

"Uuuuhhh…" She didn't know what to do.

Wow Cass. You really can't take anything you dish out, can you?

I kept picking at the lock, hoping she wouldn't hear.

"Next is your voice. Cass, swearing and telling belittling people is a waste of that beautiful voice of yours." I'm sure he was lying to her. "It'd be much better spent singing."

"Well, it's not like I haven't asked…okay, I haven't…" She admitted.

"You should." He told her. "People would love to hear it."

"R-really?" Cass blushed.

"Absolutely." Arnold put a hand on her cheek. "You'd do great."

"…Tell me more…" She grinned.

Wow. Cass manipulated someone who was desperate for affection, but it looks like she is too…

Alright, Arnold. I think I'm getting close. Just keep feeding her ego until I can bust out of-carp! One broke. I hope she didn't hear that…

"What was that?" Cass turned her head.

Carp!

"Doesn't matter." Arnold said.

"Let me just check." Cass was about to walk over.

"C-Cass!" Arnold grabbed her hand.

"Wha-mmm!" Cass was interrupted by Arnold pressing his lips against hers.

"Holy smokes!" I was startled by that.

Cass was about to aim her Dualie at him, but ended up dropping it and slowly putting her arms around his neck.

I just sat there, dumbfounded.

Arnold then used his free hand to signal me to hurry up. I quickly got out another lockpick and got to work, trying to ignore the kissing sounds. Eeewww…I think I can hear their tongues…

Come on, Otis, you can…yes! I successfully picked the lock. I then started unwrapping the chains.

"Cass…" Arnold pointed behind her, a smirk on his face.

"Hm?" She looked behind her. She looked completely disinterested in what I was doing. "Yeah, cool, now where were we?"

Arnold then dropped her and we grabbed our stuff and booked it out of there.

"Hey, get back here!" We heard her yell. "Hey!"

I looked behind me to find she was just sitting on the floor watching us leave.

"So are you two a thing now?" I asked, not at all serious.

"No." He assured me. "If anything, I got back at her. She'll definitely be mad after this."

We hurried to the edge of the building and Superjumped to the exit.

 **Tentakeel Outpost…**

We soon made it back to the Cabin. Marie was looking at a laptop.

"There you are!" Marie shouted. "We were worried sick!"

"I wasn't!" Octavio Shouted.

"Well, I was worried." Marie corrected herself. "What happened?"

"We got captured for a bit, but we escaped." Arnold explained.

"Find out anything?" Marie asked.

"Oh, the tournament!" I remembered. "Look up the attendees and the team roster. They seem to be looking for someone specific. A girl."

"Really? Are you sure?" Marie wondered.

"Yeah, we heard it in a conversation between still-unidentified spy and Sieg." I told her. "Right before we tried nabbing Sieg and getting captured…"

"Right…" Marie rolled her eyes at the last part. "Still, you met the enemy face-to-face. First impressions?"

"He was…honestly a bit unnerving." Arnold said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "We had Splattershots pointed at his head and it didn't look like it phased him at all."

"He's also pretty fast and strong." Arnold added. "He swiped my Splattershot before I could react, grabbed me by the neck with one hand, and lifted me up."

"Hm…" Marie thought about this new information. "Well it's late and you have a tournament tomorrow. Get some sleep and I'll get back to you later."

We nodded and headed off.

 **Octo Valley…Another POV**

"S-sorry Captain." An Octotrooper apologized. "But the prisoners managed to escape…Captain?"

I was barely paying any attention. My face was red, I felt hot, and my hearts were pounding. I just…I felt weird, but…good…I can't describe it…

"Captain?" He leaned over me. "Are you alright?"

"I…I think so…" I told him. "I'm not sure…I…need to talk to someone…where's Gracie?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Tournament Begins

 **Deca Tower…Sarah's POV**

Heck Yeah! Finally, the day is here! We were all gathered and ready to battle! I got my Agent gear on and Guyver had on his Null suit, Old-Timey shows, and Samurai helmet.

"All right…team?" A Jellyfish asked.

"Cirrina Squad." I told him.

"Ooooo-kay." He found it on the list. "Sarah, Guyver, Sylvia, and Ocho?"

"Ocho?" I tilted my head. "Who-"

"Yep, that's all of us!" Octim interrupted me.

I noticed that he was wearing a Power Mask Mk I.

"Right this way." The Jellyfish pointed in the direction.

"…Your mom doesn't know you're in the tournament, does she?" I asked him while we were walking.

"Please don't tell her." He begged. "She'll never let me leave home again if she found out."

"Why would she do that?" Guyver asked.

"She's overprotective of him." I told him. "She barely let him leave the house back home, made him wear goggles outside the house, and chased off anyone who came onto their property. Heck, now that I think about it, this past week has been the most we've interacted…ever."

"Why do you always wear those goggles, anyway?" Guyver asked Octim.

"M-my mom said if the others saw my eyes…they wouldn't like me…" Tim explained. "It actually took a lot of convincing for her to let me come here."

"Your eyes?" Sylvia seemed confused. "Why? Do you have weird, wonky ancient squid eyes?"

Squid eyes? Wait…does Sylvia not know they're Octolings?

"Umm…" Guyver looked at her. "You know, we're not-"

"Hey, I can see the entrance!" Tim interrupted. "Let's go in!"

He hurried in. Sylvia ran in after him. Guyver and I looked at each other and then walked in.

 **5 minutes later…**

"Hello, Inkopolis!" Marina shouted out to everyone.

"How're y'all doing today?" Pearl asked the audience.

The audience cheered wildly.

"Gotta love that enthusiasm, right Marina?" Pearl asked.

"Eeeeek, yeah!" Pearl cheered. "Reminds me of our first Splatfest!"

"Well, we ain't here for Splatfest this time, go team Fork, by the way," Pearl said. "We're here cuz we've gotta lotta cephalopods here who wanna show everyone who's the best!"

"And what better way to solve our problems than by fighting each other to the inked?" Marina remarked. "Well, first things first, we've got special guests in the audience who'd also love to watch you prove your worth."

A spotlight then shown on the Squid Sisters in their own viewing room. Marie gave her signature half-smile and wave while Callie waved wildly and blew a kiss to the audience.

The crowd went wild.

"Now, we'd usually give y'all a big ol' speech about the history of the tournament," Pearl stated. "But we got bored just readin' it, so we'll skip it for now.

The entire crowd sighed in relief.

"Now that the teams are in their places, onto the first fight!" Marina started. "The teams have already been selected; now all that remains is the stage!"

The first battle was Splaterers vs. Tentakill on Moray Towers. It was a quick match where Splaterers won.

After about five more battles, Otis's team, the Mad Squids, were against The Cephalon 4 on Port Mackerel. They seemed to be a team of former Octoling Elites from the Canyon. It was a rainmaker match. While the former Elites put up a good fight, it didn't seem like they had played Rainmaker very much as they were focused on splatting other players. The Mad Squids would end up winning that match.

Few matches later, it was Beth's team, the Inkstrikes, vs. the Stormers on Ancho-V Games. The match was Splat Zones. Mei and Zoey focused on keeping the Zone inked while Beth and Arnold focused on splatting enemy players who got close. It was no surprise Inkstrikes won.

 **Guyver's POV**

After what felt like forever, it was finally our turn. It was our team, Cirrina Squad, vs. The Defenders?

"Why call it the Defenders?" Sarah wondered.

"It means Inkopolis Defenders!" Sylvia answered. "Dedicated to be on standby in case anyone threats our home!"

"How do you know about it and how have we not heard of it?" I asked.

"I am a proud member of the group, but it's larger than just 4 people, so we often play for other teams." She answered. "Also it's a small group not technically affiliated with any legal authority. Heck, we mostly do community service."

"Sylvia!" One of the members recognized her.

"Denise!" Sylvia ran over and hugged her. "How've you guys been?"

"Good." Denise answered. "Where were you? Greg's been wondering where you've been."

"Boss was worried about me?!" Sylvia seemed surprised. "I-is he here?"

"No, he's busy and we only have four spots." Denise shook her head. "So have you been training with this team?"

"Yes, Miss!" She saluted. "Sarah Ligo, Guyver Wolfi, me, and Octim…haven't heard his last name yet."

"Hi, I'm Sarah Ligo." Sarah waved.

"Ligo?" Denise recognized the name. "My gramps knew yours."

"Really?" Sarah was surprised to hear. "I should talk to him again since he seemed to be famous back in the day."

"Hey!" Pearl got their attention. "As dope as meeting people is, it's gonna hafta wait till later. Y'all better get to Starfish Mainstage for some Clam Blitz before the crowd riots."

"I sure hope they don't riot." Marina prayed. "This place just got finished being repaired from last time."

"Right…we'll talk later." I said. "For now, let's battle!"

We soon swam through the tunnels to Starfish Mainstage.

The match began shortly after we arrived. We quickly went to work gathering clams. Soon enough, we ran into enemy players. I made short work of the first one and Sarah got enough clams from her to make a power clam. Sylvia stayed behind to guard our basket while Tim shot at any opponents coming our way.

We soon got to the goal and Sarah broke the barrier. Tim and I threw any clams we had before we all got splatted. We soon respawned to find Sylvia was struggling against the enemy team. We couldn't stop them from breaking our barrier, but we splatted them before they could throw any other clams in. We quickly scooped them up and went for their basket. We had two power clams and the enemy team was waiting. Sarah went in a Baller while Sylvia apparently had Tenta Missles charged up as they came falling down, splatting two players.

Tim got splatted during the chaos while I broke the barrier and Sarah threw her power clam in. We retreated to get more clams and soon enough, the time ran out. We were victorious.

"Woohoo!" I cheered.

Sarah gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"We…won?" Tim seemed surprised. "Yes!"

"Don't get cocky, kid." I warned him. "It was just the first round. Things will only get tougher from here."

"R-right!" Tim nodded.

"Good job!" Denise clapped. "I'm a bit disappointed we didn't last the first round, but still, good game."

"Thanks." I shook her hand.

"Let me tell ya, we could use all the recruits we can get if you're interested." Denise offered. "You know, in case we ever actually do anything."

"We'll…keep it in mind." Sarah told her.

It took a while, but soon all of the starting matches were wrapped up.

"Wow, look at the time." Marina said. "We're out of it for today…wow a lot of people came this year…"

"But we all know this goes on for at least three or more days!" Pearl stated. "We'll just see y'all tomorrow! Until next time…"

"Don't get cooked…stay Off the Hook!" They said in unison.

 **Later…**

"You should really think of Denise's offer." Sylvia suggested.

"Why?" Sarah asked.

"Well, they can help with things like marksmanship." She started. "It also provides a feeling of comradery and it's nice to feel like you're helping out and serving a purpose.

"I already have that with my friends and team." Sarah said. "Is there a point to joining your group?"

"Yeah, I mean, what if something happens?" Sylvia asked. "It'd be great to have someone to rely on in case, say, Salmonids migrate to Inkopolis or if the Octarian Menace attacks again."

"Th-they haven't done anything in over 100 years, right?" Sarah lied.

"Oh, they have." Sylvia was sure. "Boss is sure they were responsible for all Zapfish disappearances in the past decade. He even met an Octoling once who stole four!"

I took off my Samurai hat.

"So…you've never met an Octoling before? I asked her.

"Nope." She answered. "But if I ever meet one, I'll show her…or him…who's boss!"

Sarah looked concerned.

"Maybe they aren't as bad as you think." I suggested. "I mean, why would they steal Zapfish?"

"Because they're still sore for losing the Great Turf War." Sylvia shrugged. "They just want to get back at us for kicking their butts."

"You don't think that could be the only reason, right?" I was starting to get irritated with her.

"Uh…guys…" Octim tried interrupting.

"What other reason would there be?" Sylvia seemed confused. "They hate us for winning the war they started, simple as that."

"You ever think maybe it was because they were desperate?" I couldn't believe this. "I mean, the tides were rising at the time. They lost around half of their homeland."

"That doesn't excuse what they did." She remarked. "It also doesn't explain why they steal Zapfish."

"Because Octarians are stuck in deteriorating underground domes with little power!" I couldn't believe her. "Maybe they stole them because Inklings forced them underground with little means of sustaining themselves!

"Guyver…" Sarah tried interrupting.

"Those Octos were going to do the same thing to us anyway…" Sylvia shrugged. "You try to kick a species out, you get what's coming to you."

"That still doesn't make it right!" I told her.

"Geez, why are you getting so angry?" She tilted her head. "How do you know so much about Octarians, anyway?"

"Look at me!" I pointed at my eyes and hair.

"You follow that new hair fad." She stated. "So what?"

"So what…?!" I was at my breaking point. "I…you…"

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were an Octarian or something." She laughed.

"ARE ALL INKLINGS THIS STUPID, OR IS IT JUST YOU?!" I yelled at her.

Sylvia just stood there, shocked at my outburst.

"G…Guyver?" Sarah looked at me, completely shocked by what I said.

Oh, carp…

"I-uh…I gotta go!" I ran in the other direction.

"G-Guyver, wait!" Sarah yelled.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Tensions

 **Inkopolis Square…Sarah's POV**

"G-Guyver, wait!" I yelled.

"What's going on?" Sylvia was confused. "What's with him?"

"…GUYVER'S AN OCTOLING, YOU DUNCE!" I yelled at her.

"What?!" She was actually surprised.

"Yeah!" I shouted. "And so is Octim…and he's gone too!"

"Wait…why would an Octoling be in Inkopolis?" She was really confused now. "Why isn't he attacking us?"

"Come on." I urged her to follow me.

I led her to Zander's Beats. Clair was just about to close up when I knocked on the door.

"Oh, hey Sarah." Clair said. "Sorry, but we're closed now."

"I just need you to help me give Sylvia a talk." I told her.

"Ooookay." Clair didn't seem to know the reason, but let us in anyway. "So what are we talking about?"

"Sylvia, this is Clair." I told her. "She's also an Octoling. If you want an idea on why there are Octolings in Inkopolis, she'll help explain."

"You aren't going to splat me, are you?" Sylvia asked.

"No." Clair replied.

"Okay, good." Sylvia sighed in relief. "Now why are there Octolings in Inkopolis and why aren't they attacking people?"

"Well, we're here because our society is falling apart and our leadership brainwashed its own citizens." Clair told her. "We aren't attacking because we heard the Calamari Inkantation, which broke the mind control on us and we fully realized how awful our lives were and that most of the things we were told about Inklings were lies."

"Where and when was this?" Sylvia asked.

"Two years ago in Octo Valley." Clair told her. "It took some longer than others, but there's a small, but still significant number of Octolings in Inkopolis and it's growing again due to some Octolings from Octo Canyon hearing an apparently spicier version of the Inkantation. Both times, our leader disappeared and we were left to decide: Stay, or leave."

"So there've been Octolings in Inkopolis for two years and no one noticed?!" Sylvia was shocked to hear. "How?!"

"To be fair, you didn't even know Guyver was an Octoling until today." I reminded her. "Heck, I didn't even know until about a couple weeks ago."

"Oh no…" Sylvia seemed distraught. "And I said all those things about Octarians right to his face…"

She put her head in her hands.

"Hey, he'll probably forgive you if you apologize." Clair suggested.

"He'll definitely need some time to cool off though…" I told her. "He said some stuff too…"

"Wait…if your leader disappeared, why's stuff still bad?" Sylvia asked.

"Because there's more to the Octarian leadership than just the king." Clair explained. "The settlements are built to function even when our king isn't there."

"…If things are terrible, why haven't the Octarians tried asking for help?" Sylvia actually said something reasonable. "I…heard we used to like each other before the war…"

"Communication was attempted three times." Clair told her. "Each ended in abject failure."

"What happened?" I asked.

"First time was a few years after the war when King Octavio sent an emissary to try to negotiate for what remained of our old home back." Clair started explaining. "The Inklings believed it was an attack and fired on the Octarian soldiers. Second time was around forty-something years ago when a Colonel went AWOL and left to try to repair relations. Unfortunately, the idiot couldn't speak a lick of Inklish and was imprisoned. No one knows what happened to him after that..."

"What about the third time?" I asked.

"Third time was the final nail in the coffin." She continued. "It was around fourteen years ago when the energy crisis was just starting to become a real issue. A member of the royal family wanted to make contact on Mount Nantai to address our situation. He brought a full team. We still don't know the full details, but of the staff he brought, only one returned with news that her entire squad was wiped out. The leader was dead and the rest were dead ow missing in action."

"A member of the royal family?" I asked.

"Yeah, one of the princes." Clair said.

"Octavio had a son?!" I was surprised to hear.

"Yeah…and it was his favorite…" Clair mentioned.

"Wait…do you know the king?" Sylvia asked me.

"Uh-Clair mentioned his name, remember?" I asked her.

"It's just…the way you phrased that sounded like you met him before." She pointed out.

Seriously?! You can notice the tone of someone's voice but didn't realize half of your teammates were Octolings?!

"You also know my sister Cass, who's still in the Octarian army." Clair brought up. "How?"

"Well, I…uh…" Carp, carp, carp! What do I do?!

"Sarah, I think it's about time you tell me why you're so familiar with the Octarians and my sister." Clair decided.

Well, guess it's time to spill the beans…gotta get rid of Sylvia though…

"Well, see ya Sylvia." I waved goodbye. "Clair and I have to talk."

"Not going anywhere, soldier." She decided. "I wanna hear this too. If you know something useful for the Defenders, I gotta know."

Oh Cod…

"Excuse me; I just need to use the restroom." I excused myself.

"Okay, but the restroom doesn't have a window if you're thinking of escaping." Clair let me know.

"I wouldn't even consider it." I lied.

I shut the door behind me. I need to call someone.

 **4: Agent 2! Need help! Urgent!**

 **Agent 2: What happened?**

 **4: Blurted out something bad.**

 **4: Splatoon-related.**

 **4: Come to Zander's Beats!**

 **Agent 2: You're gonna be in a lot of trouble for this.**

 **Agent 2: Be there in a few.**

After a few minutes, there was a knocking on the door. I came out of the restroom to find Callie and Marie came in their agent disguises.

"Soooo…what's going on?" Clair asked. "Who are you?"

"We can tell you, but you both have to promise to keep it a secret." Agent 2 said.

"From everybody." I clarified to Sylvia.

"Alright." Clair agreed.

"…Okay." Sylvia reluctantly agreed.

"Alright then, we're Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon." Agent 2 said. "We defend Inkopolis from the Octarian menace."

"Like the Defenders?" Sylvia asked.

"Except the NSS actually does something." I commented.

"Who're the Defenders?" Agent 1 asked.

"…Nevermind…" Sylvia sounded defeated. "Your group sounds much cooler..."

"Rumors you've heard about the Octarians being responsible for the Zapfish disappearances are, in fact, true." Agent 2 told them.

"I already knew that." Clair mentioned.

"I didn't!" Sylvia said.

"Our group is small, but we work, rather effectively I must say, to defend Inkopolis." Agent 2 continued. "It is comprised of the Cap'n, four official agents, including us, and two unofficial agents. Sarah here is Agent 4."

"No way!" Sylvia went wide-eyed.

"You?" Clair raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," I rubbed the back of my head. "I helped save Inkopolis the second time the Great Zapfish was stolen."

"Wow." Clair was impressed.

"You are officially the freshest squid I know." Sylvia told me. "I salute you."

"You can ask Sarah any other questions you may have." They were bidding us farewell. "But remember, this is to remain a secret. Sarah's already in trouble for the fact that we're revealing this."

"It's okay, I won't tell." Clair assured.

"I'll keep it a secret as best as I can..." Sylvia promised.

The Agents left soon afterwards.

"Well, the fact that you're an agent means you've met Cass in person." Clair realized. "Let me say that I'm sorry for whatever she did to you."

"If she saved Inkopolis, there's no way she could lay a tentacle on Sarah." Sylvia stated.

"Well, actually, she played a dirty trick on me." I corrected her. "She electrocuted me, and then kicked me in the face and stomach several times while taunting me."

"I am so, so, sorry." Clair repeated herself.

"It's fine." I assured her. "The next time we saw each other, I won."

"Well, I'll ask more questions later then." Clair said. "It's getting late."

"I'll head out too." Sylvia said. "I have to think about stuff…also I have to come up with an apology for Guyver…"

I waved them both goodbye.

Yeah, I need to talk to Guyver too…

I soon got back to the apartment. I looked around, but Guyver wasn't there…where did he go?


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Tensions Part 2

 **Guyver's POV**

I'm an idiot…I mean, army girl's an idiot, but I just…said that…

I hope Sarah doesn't hate me…

I just…need to sit down and think…

"Hey, Guyver?" A voice called out. It was Octim, who swapped the helmet for his goggles. "Are you okay?"

"Of course not!" I freaked out. "I just said that…and right in front of Sarah!"

"I'm sure Sarah knows you weren't serious." Tim assured me. "I mean, you're already dating. I'm pretty sure she won't break up with you because you said something stupid."

"It's not just that." I sighed. "I mean, with all the stuff Sylvia said…is that what most Inklings think of us? That they either don't care or just hate us?"

"I-I'm sure it's not." He said. "I mean, I made a couple friends who know I'm an Octoling. They don't care."

"You never mentioned having friends in town." I noticed. "Come to think of it, you haven't talked much about yourself at all."

"I-uh…a bit, shy I guess…" He admitted. "I never really got out much back home...I never really planned on Ink Battles in the first place…"

"Then why did you come here?" I asked.

"Well, I told my mom I just wanted to see the city for a while." He explained. "She eventually agreed, and we'll be moving here soon, but I kind of hoped I could maybe get into music."

"Let me guess…" I started. "You want to be a DJ?"

"How'd you know?!" He seemed shocked.

"Well, it seems to be the only type of musician that we Octolings aspire to be." I remarked. "I mean nothing against it and if you want to, more power to you, but our king's a DJ, Marina's a DJ, I've heard tunes in a facility from an Octarian DJ, and in my life I've seen little kids buying turntables, aspiring to become DJs."

"Sorry I'm not original." He chuckled.

"You know, you should show me your friends some time." I told him.

"Oh, you'll love them!" He got excited. "They're in their own band and everything! They're still kind of starting out though…"

"Are they good?" I asked.

"I'll show you!" He grabbed my hand. "They like to practice around the Canal."

We took me all the way to Snapper Canal. When we got there, three Inklings were practicing on their instruments. Two were girls, one with her hair tied in the back on drums, one with her hair long on one side on bass, and the third was a boy with spiky hair similar to Otis's on guitar.

"Hey guys!" Tim called out.

"Oh, hey Tim!" One of the girls called out.

"Hi Tim!" The other called out.

"Hey, little man!" The guy waved. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Guyver." He introduced me. "I'm on his team."

"Oh yeah," He looked at me. "You told us about that. Glad you took my advice?"

"Yeah!" He cheered. "We already won a match in the tournament!"

"Nice, but careful," He warned. "Tougher opponents await…trust me, I know."

"Sooooo…who are you three?" I asked.

"I'm George, the bassist is Sheryl, and the drummer is Carol." He introduced his band. "They're my sisters."

"And we're 'Name Pending'!" Carol told us.

"Name Pending?" I asked.

"We don't have a name yet." Sheryl admitted. "Well, we used that name in a competition last year and I guess it stuck. So how's the DJ stuff going for ya, Tim?"

"Not great…" Tim sighed. "I still can't find any DJs in Inkopolis who'll teach me."

"What about Marina?" I suggested.

"Oh yeah, because she has the time." George rolled his eyes.

"I happen to know Marina." I told him. "Maybe I can get her to show him some stuff."

"Well, if she has the time, then good." I could tell he didn't believe me. "But I don't think she has enough time on her hands with the news, Splatfests, and such."

"…Sooo, anyway…are you guys practicing?" Tim asked.

"We're actually wrapping up." George told him. "We're packing up now."

"Aaaaww…that stinks." Tim whined.

"Hey, there's always next time." George assured him.

"Well, guess it's back to my apartment…" Tim lamented.

"Where do you live, anyway?" I asked. "If you only started battling recently, how'd you afford to live here?"

"I-I'm staying with some people from who came from Cirrina the same time I did." He told me. "They said I could stay as long as I clean up and don't bug them…"

"So they aren't friends..." I pointed out.

"No…but it's a place to stay until my mom finds a job, packs our stuff, and buys a place so we can move here." He explained.

"I'll walk with ya, little man." George said. "Make sure you don't run into trouble."

"Same here." I said. "I need some time to think of something to say to Sarah."

"I'm not gonna ask…" George wisely decided.

George waved his sisters goodbye for now and we walked towards Tim's apartment. While we were walking, I couldn't help but feel like we were being watched. Eventually, we got to Tim's apartment. We waved him goodbye as he went up the stairs. After that, it was just me and George.

"So how'd Octim meet you?" I wondered. "He doesn't seem like the type to approach people to make friends."

"He actually ran into me while I was practicing alone near the canal." George explained. "He seemed lost and scared, so I asked him what was up. He never said exactly what, but he seemed to cheer up after listening to me practice. It was a little bit after that that I introduced him to the rest of my band."

"Wonder why he was scared…" I said.

"Maybe just moving to the big city was a bit much for him." He suggested. "Well, that and he mentioned some sketchy people walking around."

That would scare anyone, I guess...

"Well, guess I should head back to my apartment." I said. "Sarah's probably worried about me…"

"I'm not gonna ask what happened," He restated. "But I hope it goes well."

"Thanks…" I nodded.

We soon split paths and I started walking home. I was about halfway there when I got that feeling again. I looked around and no one was there aside from a couple people walking up and down the sidewalk. I kept walking, but still had the feeling I was being watched. I decided to retrace my steps and walk by the canal. There weren't many places to hide there and it was pretty echo-y in there, so if someone was following me I'd hear their footsteps.

When I got to the canal, I decided to play it casually and pick up a couple pebbles the throw them in the water. I then turned to walk down the side of the canal. A few bridges passed and I'll go back onto the sidewalk. After a couple minutes of walking, I started listening for anything behind me…nothing…I kept walking.

It wasn't long before I started getting tired of walking along the canal. I started walking up towards one of the bridges when I saw something out the corner of my eye. I quickly grabbed a small rock off the ground and spun around…only to find Tim right there. He looked terrified.

"Tim?" I couldn't believe it. "What are you doing here?"

"W-we got into an argument…then a fight..." He explained. "They locked me out…"

"Wow." I still couldn't believe it. "Some roommates you're staying with…"

"Can I stay at your place until tomorrow?" He asked.

"Sure." I shrugged. "You can crash on the couch."

"It's a shame how people treat you…" A figure above us remarked. It was some Inkling wearing shades…at nighttime… "But it's a good thing I've found you again…"

"Excuse me, who are you?" I had no idea who this was.

"G-Guyver, we need to run…" Tim sounded petrified.

"What?" I was confused.

The figure hopped down to our level.

"Now, let me help you, child." He pulled out a knife.

"Oh no…"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Resolution

 **Guyver's POV**

"Tim, get behind me." I told him.

He did exactly that.

"Ah, I've seen you before…with the Inkling girl..." The figure said. "I'll help you as well before you make something you regret."

"What are you-" I couldn't finish as the squid rushed at us.

I quickly grabbed the arm that held the knife. He struggled to try to get his hand free before he settled for punching me in the face. I fell down and he was about to bring the knife down on me before Tim grabbed his hands. I tried getting up, but he noticed and kicked me in the face. My vision got blurry.

"Just let me help you!" The figure shouted. "An existence like ours is pure suffering! I can end the pain!"

"I'm not suffering!" Tim shouted. "I have friends who care about me!"

"But you hide something from them." The figure stated. "There's something you don't want them to see. You feel you'll be rejected if they saw. I told you I know that pain!"

I regained my senses, noticed they were a few feet away now. Tim was on the ground, injured while the figure was hovering over him. Tim was hitting him in the face, but to no effect. The squid's shades had fallen off though.

"Don't you see?!" The figure asked. "I'm just like you!"

He then tore off Tim's goggles.

"Don't you see that-" He seemed to pause a second. "What's this…?"

I quickly tackled him to the ground, knocking the knife out of his hand. He quickly threw me off of him and I landed a few yards from the water. He hurried over and put his hands on my neck. He stared directly at me. His eyes…he was an Inkling, but his eyes resembled an Octoling's. He seemed to have more than a few features resembling an Octoling now that I got a look at him. Who was this guy?

"Don't like what you see?" He asked. "Neither did my own mother. Don't worry, you won't be seeing it for long."

I started struggling. He just gripped me tighter.

"You won't stop me!" He said. "I'll make it so no freaks like me exist in this world."

This wasn't good. He was too heavy to push off of me. I couldn't breathe. My vision was fading again. Everything went dark…I was going to die here

…Sarah…Mei…

I…

I suddenly could breathe again.I coughed a bit. My vision slowly came back.

I sat up and looked around. The figure was gone and Tim had fallen to his knees next to the edge of the water. He was crying.

I saw his goggles on the ground and picked them up. I walked over to him and handed the goggles over, keeping my head turned away from him. He grabbed the goggles and put them on.

"What happened?" I asked. "Where'd he go?"

"He's gone…" Tim answered with a shaky voice.

"Where'd he go?" I asked.

Tim then looked at me. I could see the figure's knife freshly stained in his hands.

"He's…gone…" Tim was sobbing profusely.

I quickly grabbed the knife and threw it into the water. I pulled him close and patted him on the back, telling him it was okay.

I then helped him up.

"Is there somewhere we can go?" I asked.

"M-my friends' place is close…" He managed to say.

"Where do your band friends live?" I asked.

"D-down the street…" He whimpered.

I helped him to George's apartment. I knocked on the door. It opened a few seconds later.

"Guver? Tim?" George's eyes widened. "What happened to you two?"

"Tim needs a place to stay and your place was closer." I said. "He needs help."

"Come in." He could tell this was serious.

"What happened?" Carol asked.

I explained everything that happened after we parted ways. His argument, getting kicked out, and the murderous stranger who I'm guessing Tim had more than one run-in with.

"Geez, little man…" George couldn't believe it. "You can stay here."

"Come here, Timmy…" Sheryl led him into one of their rooms.

"You guys need me here?" I asked.

"It's fine, we got this." George assured me. "If there's anything my sisters are good at, it's comfort. We'll take care of Tim. You should head home. Your friend is probably worried sick about you."

I thought about it a second before nodding in agreement.

I ran back to Flounder Heights. I opened the door and walked in. As I did, I could hear Sarah get up from her bed. She ran outside her bedroom door and stopped. I looked right at her.

What do I say?

"G-Guyver…?" She stood there looking like she was worried sick.

I ran over and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry." I told her. "I didn't mean what I said. I don't know why I said it…"

"I-it's fine." She said. "I'm sure you didn't mean it. Where've ya been?!"

"I went to be alone for a bit, but Octim found me." I explained. "Long story short, we almost died and Tim's now staying with some friends of his."

"You almost died?!" She got more worried.

"I'll explain later…" I stated. "I just…need to rest for now."

"Alright." Sarah nodded and let go. "Get ready for bed, then come in and give me another hug."

I nodded in agreement and got ready for bed. I went over to Sarah's room and she held her arms out. I sat on her bed and gave her a hug and she refused to let go.

"S-Sarah?" I looked at her.

"I don't know exactly what happened," Sarah remarked. "But if you had a rough time, you can stay here for the night."

I chuckled a bit before getting under the sheets.

"Heh…so is this going to be a regular thing?" I asked. "Sharing the bed?"

"No." She assured me. "It just seemed like you could use the company right now."

"Yeah…" I agreed.

Well, I definitely could. Glad Tim has the same right now. He needs it way more than I do.

It wasn't long before I drifted to sleep.

 **The Next Day…**

We showed up to Deca Tower again. I wasn't sure how to tell Sarah the news of what happened. I then saw Sylvia walking towards us.

"Um…hey Guyver…" She looked guilty. "I'm…sorry for the stuff I said…I didn't know and it was just stupid and wrong of me to say that…can you forgive me?"

I thought about it a second.

"Well, if you're truly sorry, then I have no choice but to forgive you." I told her. "Just...keep in mind that our species weren't always enemies."

"I will, sir." She saluted me. "…Where's Tim?"

"Oh yeah," I guess I had to tell them now. "He may not be coming…"

"What?!" She looked at me wide-eyed. "B-but the tournament."

"It's a long story that you may have to sit down for." I told them both. "It'll explain why he probably won't come."

"I'm here!" Tim called out as he came running towards us wearing his Power mask.

"Tim?!" I was surprised to see him. "Are you okay?!"

"Y-yeah…I think so…" He didn't sound fine. "Well, fine enough that I can show up. After all, I-I can't let my team down, can I?"

"Okay…" I still wasn't sure. "Just…if you need to quit, you can tell us."

He nodded in response.

It wasn't long before we were put in a match. Now that they whittled down the numbers yesterday, they had actual brackets this time. We were playing Rainmaker on Starfish Mainstage. The match was about to begin.

"Alright team!" Sarah shouted. "Now the real fights begin!"

"I'm always ready!" I said.

"Me too!" Sylvia said.

"Oh, uh…can you not tell my mom what happened?" Tim asked me. "She'd flip out if she found out I killed someone."

Sarah and Sylvia's eyes widened.

"Wait…" Sylvia said. "You did what?

 **Ready…Go!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note: New Story Follower! Thanks TDPIvy for your interest in the story and I hope you, my other followers, and all others who read this continue to enjoy my works!**

Chapter 12

 **Otis's POV**

Another day of fighting in the Tournament. We had our first match early, so we have about two hours until the next time we battle. I decided to check in with Callie and Marie if they'd figured anything out yet. I texted them that I wanted to talk and they told me to meet up in a janitor's closet. I was turning the corner when I bumped into someone.

"Hey, careful!" The purple-haired girl said.

Sor-" I got shoved back by a large crab.

"Hey, what's the big deal?!" I got frustrated now.

"Gonna need you to stand back." He said.

"Steve, I can handle him myself." The girl sighed.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked.

"Alice Notodarus." She said. "And just be careful next time, he's very protective. Trust me; I'd ditch him if I could."

"Hey, you gotta relax." Ivan came out of nowhere and patted her on the back. "Chill out, rich girl."

"Steve, it's him again!" She shouted.

Steve then grabbed Ivan and threw him against the wall.

"Splat off!" She took her leave.

"You okay, Ivan?" I asked.

"Yeah, I kinda deserved that." He said. "I was attempting some playful banter earlier, but she has pretty thin skin."

"Must be someone important if she has a bodyguard." I pointed out. "Well, if you're okay, I'll leave you be. Just be careful. I have somewhere to be"

I started walking.

"Right." He agreed. "Have fun making out with Callie!"

"I'm not…" I decided to let that go and kept walking.

I soon got to the right Janitor's closet. Callie and Marie were waiting.

"So, you guys figure out anything?" I asked.

"Well, since you and Arnold said they were looking for someone, we decided to look up the players and attendees." Marie explained. "There seem to be a couple high-profile people here aside from us and Off the Hook."

"Yeah, I think I ran into one." I said. "Had a bodyguard and everything."

"What was her name?" Callie asked, holding a touchpad.

"I think it was… Alice Notodarus." I told her.

"Let's see…Alice Notodarus is competing in the competition. Team Mayflowers" Callie read off the screen. "Her father is a big figure in the power company…her family…breeds Zapfish…"

Marie and I both looked at her, wide-eyed.

"I think we found the target…" Marie said.

"No doubt they're waiting for an opportunity to catch her without her bodyguard." I reasoned.

"But they couldn't possibly know about the Octarians though." Marie pointed out. "We need to find the spy so hopefully we can keep it that way."

"You think the slimy Octopus is here?" I asked.

"No doubt." Marie said. "Just look out for anyone hovering around her."

I nodded my head in agreement.

"I'll text the other agents." She started to leave. "Callie?"

"I'll catch up." She then looked over to me.

"Right, right." Marie rolled her eyes and left.

Callie then put her arms around me.

"Callie?" I got nervous.

"I'm a busy girl, so I gotta take all the chances I can get to have some time with my new BF, right?" She smiled.

"Well, hard to argue with that." I remarked.

 **Beth's POV**

"So that's their game…" I said. "Going after this girl…"

"If I had to guess, they're going to kidnap her and hold her hostage for some Zapfish." Marie said.

"But they couldn't possibly get too many Zapfish out of one girl, no matter who she is." I pointed out. "At most, they'd get just enough for the Gorge."

"That's what I'm trying to figure out now." She told me.

We then heard snickering. We looked around the corner to find Ivan looking at his phone with a grin on his face.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"I was right." He smirked.

"Ivan, you better not post that!" We heard Otis running down the hallway.

"Gotta run!" He bolted between us.

"Ivan, get back here!" Otis bolted between us.

"Soooo…did he not even question why I was standing next to you?" Marie asked.

"I think he was too busy laughing to notice." I guessed.

"Well, I'll be in our viewing suite." She turned to leave. "Look out for anyone acting strange."

I turned to face the hallway Ivan and Otis ran down.

Yeah, that may be hard. I already know a few strange people…

 **Mei's POV**

"Beth!" I called out. "Next round's about to start soon."

"Sorry, Mei." She ran down. "We'll probably miss the match by the time we get there. Who's next again?"

I took out the bracket list.

"Let's see…" I looked at it. "Ice Burg vs. The Mariners. Oh, Guyver's team's next match is against Toxic Mist. That's a cool name"

"Toxic Mist?" Her eyes widened. "Well, they're gonna lose."

"What makes you say that?" I asked, slightly bothered by that.

"The squids in Toxic Mist are a bunch of weirdos who dress in mostly black and gas masks who act like the creepiest squids who aren't Ivan." She explained. "They have a knack for anonymity and they've won the tournament twice."

"Oh…well…maybe it'll be different." I suggested. "Things happen. Maybe they'll win."

"We'll ssssssee." I masked figure in a Dark Bomber Jacket behind us said.

We were a little surprised he was that close by and overheard us.

"A-are you Toxic Mist?" I asked.

"Yesssss…" He eerily replied. "Number One…"

"Told you they were creeps." Beth said.

"Sssssix, Ssssseven, Nine," He urged his teammates to follow. "We've got a tournament to win."

Behind him were three squids wearing gas masks. Two wore Navy Eminence Jackets while the last one wore Neo Octoling armor.

"What's with the numbers?" I asked Beth.

"It's probably in order that they joined." She guessed. "People have noticed that some of the squids looked different than the last time they were in the tournament as well as the number changes, so Number 01 probably replaces his Teammates with better ones now and then."

"Well, Guyver and his team have definitely got their work cut out for them." I remarked.

"Yeah, especially since he kept Six and Seven." Beth remarked. "Nine's new, so she must be good if she was invited."

"Do you know them?" I asked as we were walking back to the viewing area.

"No one does." She told me. "Like I said, anonymity is their thing. There are some clues though. For instance, Six and Seven seem to be twins if their heights, skin color, and their way of dressing identically mean anything."

"What about the others?" I asked.

"Other than One's spiky hair and Nine having short hair and a tan like Sarah and looking like the youngest, not much to go off of." She said.

"But it's all a show, right?" I wondered.

"Considering they only show up for tournaments, most likely." She shrugged.

"Speaking of which, I think we've got some matches to watch." I said.

We sat down on a bench next to Arnold and Zoey to watch some more matches. Our next one would be coming up soon.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 **Turf War…Port Mackerel…Cirrina Squad**

"Careful…I heard these guys are tough." Silvia warned.

"We can beat 'em." Sarah boasted.

"H-hopefully…" Octim said. "We've done well so far."

"Tim, all you've done the past couple matches was ink turf until you could get your specials charged while avoiding anyone unless you had a Splashdown." Sylvia pointed out.

"Well…it's just…" He tried explaining.

"It's fine, Tim." Sarah said. "Like we said, if you need to back out, you can."

"I'll be fine." Tim assured them.

"Well, be ready." Guyver said. "Because soon the match will-"

 **Ready…Go!**

They quickly split up to ink turf. Sarah and Guyver went to the sides while Sylvia and Octim went down the middle, Octim lagging behind to ink spots they missed.

Soon enough, both Sarah and Guyver activated their Inkjets to gain more ground while Sylvia activated her Tenta Missiles. All seemed to be going well until a charger shot splatted Guyver while he was in air and many of the spots Sarah inked while using her Inkjet were quickly covered by the enemy. Her special ran out and she was sent back to where she took off only to be splatted by a brush on landing.

"Clam it!" Sarah shouted as her ghost flew off. "Why does it show everyone where you took off?! They always wait for you to come back!"

"Calm down, sweetheart." Guyver said, not far from spawn. "The match just started."

After about a minute, things still weren't looking good. Sylvia, Guyver, and Sarah were back around spawn while Octim was far out and being hunted down. None looked too excited.

"Come on guys!" Sarah shouted. "We can pull through! We just need motivation!"

"If we win, I'll buy everyone the best stuff at the Crust Bucket." Sylvia said.

"If we win, we'll all try out whatever you called that group of yours, Sylvia." Guyver said.

"If we win, I'll go without Goggles." Octim said over the comms.

"This won't work." Guyver sighed. "I don't feel any more motivated."

"…If we win," Sarah thought of something. "…I'll let you get to second base!"

"We can't give up now! Onward!" Guyver rushed out of spawn, only to get splatter by Nine's brush.

"Heeheehee!" She giggled before running off.

"…Okay, is it me, or does she kinda look like me?" Sarah said. "I mean, my haircut, my tan, the brush…if she has the same eyes, I'm out of here."

"Maybe she's your evil doppleganger." Sylvia suggested. "That's the military term, anyway."

"That is not a military term." Sarah glared at Sylvia.

"It could be..." Sylvia reasoned.

"Well…Whatever she is, we have to move now." Sarah rushed out.

Far out on the other side of the arena, Octim was inking turf fairly close to the enemy spawn. He expected to be relatively alone while the other team focused on pushing forward, but One was on his tail.

"Ssssstay ssssstill!" One shouted.

"Stop that lisp thing!" Tim shouted. "It's creepy!"

"Turn around and fight!" One growled.

"I can't!" Tim kept going.

"Why not?" One tilted his head.

"Because…" Tim was trying to come up with something.

"If you don't fight, you'll get splatted." One said. "You'll let your team down."

"I-I have reasons…that I can't tell you about…" Octim told him.

"There alwaysss comesss a time…" One said, turning the corner. "You can't run and hide forever. You have to ssssstand up sssometime."

…

"It'ssss Now or Never." One told him. "Do or Die…"

Tim thought about it for a second…

"…A-alright." Tim turned around. "I-I'll fight you then."

"Sssshow me what you've got, little man." He aimed his Splattershot.

Octim charged forward, firing his own Splattershot. One charged forward as well. Each dodged each other's shots until Tim got hit. One was about to finish him off until Tim remembered he had his Splashdown charged. He jumped up and slammed down, splatting One.

"Hehehe…nice one…" He admitted as he flew off.

 ***Splat***

Octim flew back to spawn after Seven's charger hit him.

"But you've still got a long way to go." One remarked.

Tim landed back at spawn, but more determined now.

The team made one last push. It was all or nothing. They managed to splat Nine and Six and ink their turf. One and Seven managed to splat Sylvia and Guyver and ink some Turf back before getting splatted themselves. Octim would get splatted by Six's Aerospray while Sarah ran past him to ink around their spawn before getting splatted by the rest of the enemy team. Both teams worked hard to stay ahead.

 **5…**

 **4…**

 **3…**

 **2…**

 **1…**

 **Game!**

The results were in!

"Meow (and the winner is…)." Judd was eying the map. "Meow (It's closer than expected, but…)."

"Meow (…Toxic Mist!)!" Li'l Judd announced.

The crowd cheered for the winners and applauded the losing team for their effort.

"Well, we lost…" Sylvia said.

"But hey, we did better than I thought we would." Octim pointed out.

"Yeah!" Sarah agreed. "Next year, we'll win for sure!"

"Well, guess we won't be getting Crusty Seans's, we won't be joining Sylvia's group, Tim will keep his goggles on," Guyver listed their winning promises. "And I won't get to second base."

"Guyver, we're 14." Sarah reminded him. "Wait a few years and I might actually have something worth looking at."

"Sarah!" Guyver grabbed her looked her right in the eye. "Are you implying that what I'm looking at right now isn't worth looking at?!"

Sarah blushed.

"Because I can look at it all day." He pulled her in for a kiss. "…as well as smooch it."

Sarah started giggling uncontrollably.

"You know what?" Sylvia said. "Even though we didn't win, I'll still buy Crusty Sean's. Soldiers can't practice for next year on an empty stomach!"

"And I guess we can meet some of the people from your group since Denise seemed nice." Sarah admitted.

"I-I don't think I'm ready for my winning promise…" Octim said.

"That's fine." Sarah assured him. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Well, I guess we better head out now." Guyver said.

Then Sarah's phone buzzed.

"Who is it?" Octim asked.

"A-a friend from work." Sarah said. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

Sarah then left as the rest of her team went down to the exit. Guyver split off to use the restroom, leaving Sylvia with Octim.

"I wonder where Sarah went." Tim wondered.

"I think I might know…" Sylvia mumbled to herself.

"Where?" Octim heard her.

"Uh…I really shouldn't say." She said. "I promised I wouldn't.

"Come on." Tm whined. "Please?"

"Hey, you have a secret, so I get to keep a secret." Sylvia asserted.

…

"…W-what if I did my winning promise?" Tim said. "A-a secret for a secret."

Sylvia's eyes widened.

"Okay." She agreed.

Tim pulled her to an empty room.

"What's Sarah's secret?" Tim asked.

"...She's part of a secret organization that protects Inkopolis from threats." Sylvia told him. "The New Squidbeak Splatoon. They actually fight bad guys! It sounds so cool and I wish I was a member!"

"Woah…" Tim was speechless.

"Your turn!" Sylvia told him.

"…O-okay…" Tim said. "Just…promise me you won't hate me."

"Why would I?" Sylvia was confused.

"Mom said if people saw my eyes, they wouldn't like me…" He explained.

"But aren't there other Octolings here too?" She was more confused.

"Sh-She said even around them…" He added.

"Hey," She grabbed his shoulder. "I promise…"

"Okay…here goes…" He grabbed his goggles.

Octim then removed his goggles, revealing his eyes to Sylvia.

Sylvia was intrigued by his eyes. They weren't regular Octoling eyes. They were green with almost purple-ish blue pupils and fleshy purple rings around them.

"They…don't look like regular Octoling eyes…" She pointed out. "But I don't see that as a reason to hate you."

"Really?" Octim asked, surprised.

"Yeah!" Sylvia said. "They actually look kind of cool."

"W-well, don't tell anyone I showed you or what you saw, okay?" Tim begged. "Mom would kill me."

"Has anyone else seen this?" Sylvia asked.

"Well…outside of mom, George and his sisters have…and Gramps in Cirrina Countryside…" Tim admitted. "But I haven't shown anyone else."

"Don't worry." Sylvia said. "I won't tell anyone. I'll let you decide if you want to show people your eyes."

"Thanks, Sylvia." Octim hugged her.

"Oh, come on." She tried not to get all mushy. "How old are you?"

"13." He answered.

"Thirteen?!" She was shocked. "You know you aren't supposed to be battling until your 14, right?!"

"I-I didn't know…" He sheepishly responded.

"…Well, if you have your full form already, I guess it's fine." Sylvia said. "Just don't tell anyone you're 13."

"Okay." Tim agreed. "Now can we get come Crusty Sean's? I'm starving now."

"Sure." She started walking with him out. "So when did you get your full form anyway?"

"When I was 12." He answered.

"Twelve?!" She was even more shocked to hear. "Oh, Geez…"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 **Octim's POV…**

Sylvia and I werewalking to the Crust Bucket.

"So when did your other friends see your eyes?" Sylvia asked.

"R-remember the first night of the tournament when Guyver and I almost….you know…?" I reminded her. "And I…you know…?"

"Oh…" She remembered. "That's when?"

"Yeah, George's sisters insisted on wiping my face off." I told her. "I-I didn't want them to at first, but they were persistent and I eventually gave in. They didn't seem to care though. They were clearly more concerned with my well-being than my eyes."

"Well, yeah!" Sylvia responded. "I mean, I would be! I mean, who was the guy who tried killing you, anyway?"

"I…I never found out who that guy was…" I answered. "...Honestly…I don't want to think about him anymore…"

"Well, hopefully things will get better for you now." She hoped.

"Well, I don't have to feel so scared now." I admitted. "I think at last I can finally relax and enjoy life here."

"Good to hear, private!" Her army girl attitude was back. "Now let's move out to the Crust Bucket!"

"Yeah!" I agreed.

 **Octo Canyon…Sarah's POV…**

"Seriously, Marie?!" I complained. "I was just going to enjoy a 'good work' meal with my team and you call me here for guard duty?!"

"Gramps had to go to the store for a bit." Marie told me. "For now, this will be your punishment for blurting out top secret Splatoon stuff at Zander's Beats."

"Fiiiine…" I groaned.

I texted my teammates that we'll have to get Crusty Sean's a little later. They seemed oddly understanding. Well, for now I have to keep an eye on the grumpy Octarian DJ.

"…You seem in an especially bad mood today." I noticed.

"They thought stickin' a TV in front of me would 'calm me down'. "Octavio explained. "It didn't work…"

"Why?" I wondered.

"Because I turn it to the music channel and see interviews of MY people who ditched me for here, stealin' my thunder and becoming DJs themselves!" He explained further. "Worst part is they don't even credit me! It's all Squid Sisters this and Squid Sisters that! Flounderin' ingrates!"

"Maybe it's because most Octolings are still nervous about telling people they're Octolings." I suggested.

"Dumb hipsters have no pride!" He growled.

"Also you brainwashed them." I reminded him.

"And Bobby Zander stole all of his songs!" He replied. "Don't mean no one credits him!"

"Kind of apples to oranges, don't you think?" I tilted my head.

"Besides, they should be thankin' me." He told me. "At least when my beats were influencing them, they couldn't fully see how bad their lives were."

"They should be thankful for mind control?!" I was shocked to hear.

"They disobey orders, run away from fights, and get themselves killed when I don't." He claimed.

"You talking about the war?" I raised an eyebrow. "They probably knew you were losing and decided fighting wasn't worth it."

"Cowards!" He growled.

"Whatever…" I rolled my eyes. "Besides, the Octolings here are, for the most part, happy. Maybe you should try talking to the different Inkling governments rather than plan blind revenge. I mean, our species were friends once. I'm sure it can be that way again if you just talk to them."

"I knew a guy who thought that once." He glared at me. "You wanna know what happened to him? He got killed tryin' that!"

"…Are you talking about your son?" I asked.

"My…how do you know about that?!" He got closer to the glass. "I never told none a' you Splatoon punks bout that!"

"Clair at Zander's Beats told me." I explained. "She used to be an Elite."

"…Whatev's…" He sounded emptier. "I've got more children…grandchildren."

"I was told he was your favorite." I added.

"Psh…like the others came close." He crossed his arms. "All my other fam's a bunch of ingrate brats who don't appreciate what I've done."

"To be fair, if my relative brainwashed people, I wouldn't appreciate him much either." I remarked.

"Half of them ain't even interested in ruling and the other half are just waiting for me to die!" Octavio groaned. "At least Jr. would sit n' listen to ma beats and give me honest criticism."

"How many do you have?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I have 8 children, well 7 now, and 56 grandchildren." Wow, that's a lot. "And they all ain't gett'n squat when I pass."

"How do you choose an heir with so many?" I was curious.

"Already did." He said. "He got killed."

"Oh…" Guess I shouldn't press the issue further.

"Y'know, I can't understand why y'all keep sayin' I should just talk to 'em when that failed every time it was tried." He crossed his arms. "Optimism and stupidity have a fine line between 'em."

"Forget I said anything…" I sighed.

"Yer young." He leaned back and put his shades back on. "You don't understand how the world works yet."

"Maybe…" I agreed. "But I know many of the Octolings that live in Inkopolis do have Inkling friends. If Inklings like these people before realizing they're Octolings and then find out, would they care at all whether or not they're Octolings?"

"Hard to say." He shrugged. "Why don't they try it and find out? Oh yeah, that would require pride and courage."

"They were brave enough to risk getting hypnotized for leaving." I told him.

"Bah, they left cuz they was scared." He remarked. "And they got no pride in what they are since they left what was left of their culture to live like Inklings. I heard that most of y'all think they're Inklings with weird haircuts? I'd call that a good description for those posers. Inklings with weird haircuts."

What do I say to that? I mean, he's horrible, but come to think about it; just about every Octoling I've met in Inkopolis is pretty much doing everything Inklings do…

"Hey, I wore a Samurai helmet during the tournament." Guyver suddenly came in. "I thought looking like the most intimidating and somewhat respected person I know would impress people."

"Well if it ain't my fan." Octavio noticed him. "How's it hangin'?

He seems pretty chill towards Guyver…

"Eh, fine." Guyver replied. "You aren't upsetting Sarah, are you?"

"If anything, it's the opposite." Octavio groaned.

"Hey, she's a pretty nice gal." Guyver asserted. "Maybe prison life's just getting to you."

"She just reminded me of the Junior Incident." Octavio told him. "I was already in a bad mood and she made it worse."

"Oh geez," Guyver rubbed the back of his head. "Sarah, maybe it's not a good idea to bring up sensitive subjects."

"I'm just trying to figure things out." I told him. "It's not like I'm trying to aggravate him."

"Well, I guess-" Guyver was cut off by the sound of someone coming in through the manhole.

"Oh, it must be the Ca-" …It wasn't the Cap'n…

"Woah…what's this place?" A spiky-haired Inkling guy looked around.

"Uh…who are you?!" Sarah was shocked to see someone there.

"Oh, hey Guyver." He seemed to know him. "You see little man?"

"George?!" Guyver was stunned to see this guy. "What are you doing here?!"

"I was looking for Octim and I saw you go through a manhole by the Ammo Knights store." George explained. "Woah, who's that guy?"

"No one!" I shouted.

"I'm the master of music!" Octavio boasted. "The Beatmastah! The hottest Wasabi DJ in the world, DJ Octavio!"

Carp…

"DJ?" George walked over. "Nice shades. So why are you in a snowglobe? What is this place? Why are you two here?"

Caaaaaarp…

"I'm gonna get help!" I told everyone. "Stay here!"

 **Inkopolis Square…**

"So is that all you needed for the Cabin?" Marie asked.

"Yep." Cap'n Cuttlefish nodded. "So who'd you get to watch while I was gone?"

"Only the best security I could find." Marie said.

They dove through the manhole to Octo Canyon to find Sarah running towards them.

"Security breach!" Sarah shouted.

"Well…the best I could find on short notice…" Marie sighed. "What happened, Agent 4?"

"Someone else came down the manhole!" Sarah told her.

"I swear if Li'l Judd had something to do with this, I'm shaving his tail." Marie groaned.

"Can I sketch you?" They heard George ask.

"Only if ya get my good side!" Octavio struck a pose.

"Ugh…" Marie facepalmed. "So much for 'top secret'…Let's get this over with…"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

 **Octo Canyon…**

Marie couldn't believe this. Yet another person easily discovered top secret Splatoon stuff. She began considering getting a lock for the manhole. She quickly put on her green cap and face mask.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Agent 2 walked over to the spiky-haired squid, who had sat down to sketch the imprisoned DJ.

"Huh, Oh…" He stood up. "My name is George Tanin. And you are?"

"Agent 2." She answered. "And you aren't allowed to be here.

"Guyver and the lady I assume is Sarah are." He pointed out.

"That's…different." Agent 2 said. "Look, can you promise not to tell anyone what you saw here?"

"…I promise…" He took a slight bow.

Octavio raised an eyebrow, noticing George had fingers crossed behind his back.

"So what's with the DJ here?" George asked. "Why's he in a snowglobe?"

"He caused some trouble and needs time in there to cool off." Agent 2 explained. "He'll be in there a while."

"Geez, a DJ with nothing to do, huh?" George raised an eyebrow and took note. "Well, if this area's restricted, I best not step on your toes. I'll take my leave."

George then took the manhole out.

"That was easy…" Agent 2 remarked.

"Aw, ya didn't even let him finish his sketch!" Octavio complained.

"This's supposed to be top secret, Octavio!" Cap'n Cuttlefish reminded him.

"On that note, anyone care to explain how he got in?' Marie turned to face the young squid and Octopus.

"He followed Guyver!" Sarah ratted him out.

"Sarah…my hearts…" Guyver acted like he took a hit to the chest and about to die..

"Is that true?" Marie asked Guyver.

"Apparently he did." He admitted. "I had no idea he saw me."

"Well, at least he'll keep quiet." Marie sighed.

"Wonder how long that'll work." Octavio wondered. "Soon enough, your secret Splatoon won't be secret no more."

"The Splatoon and why it exists being revealed is a bigger threat to you, DJ." Cuttlefish told him. "People knowin' about what you and yer lackies have been up to could make yer situation worse."

"Shut up, Craig!" Octavio spat. "I'm trying to think of my next album…"

"Well, if all that's settled then you two can leave, I guess." Marie told the young couple. "Cap'n's back so he can stay here and watch Octavio for a while."

"Alright!" Sarah cheered. "Now to text Sylvia and Octim!"

"…Octim…?" The DJ noticed the name. "Why does that sound…nah…"

Octavio then closed his eyes for a nap.

Sarah then texted Sylvia and Octim, who were already in the square, surprisingly.

 **Inkopolis Square…**

"Hey Tim, we're back!" Sarah was running over to them with Guyver in tow.

"Hey, guys!" Sylvia waved as she and Octim were sitting at a table next to the Crust Bucket.

Octim didn't say anything yet as he was talking to George at the moment.

"Well, I just wanted to say good job on the Tournament!" George patted Tim on the back. "Even if you didn't win, I congratulate you for getting as far as you did."

"Thanks, George!" Octim grinned.

"Well, I'd love to stay, but I've got things to get to." George turned to leave. "See ya later!"

"Bye!" Tim waved.

"So he's your friend?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, I'm staying with him and his sisters now." Tim explained. "My old roommates were…kind of much."

"Well, at least he seems friendly." Sarah said.

"Yeah, Tim's in good hands." Guyver remarked.

"Well, what are we waiting for, recruits?" Sylvia asked. "Tell me what you're looking to eat!"

"Yeah!" The others cheered in unison.

 **Inkopolis Tournament…Beth's POV**

I have the time now, so I'll keep an eye on this Alice girl. I had Arnold talking to me over my headset.

I saw her go into one of the girls' locker rooms. The crab named Steve waited outside. Well, if there's one place you could catch her without her bodyguard, that's one place…

"Alright, she went inside the girls' locker room." I told Arnold. "I'm going to follow her."

"Just don't make things awkward." Arnold quipped.

"I've been in a locker room before." I groaned.

I went inside. It was full of Inklings and Octolings changing into gear that they thought they would need for their next matches. Not a bad idea, I even do it.

I couldn't tell where she went, though…there were a lot of people in-oof! I bumped into someone…

"Hey Beth." Samantha noticed it was me.

"Oh, hey Sam-woah!" I noticed she was in the process of changing.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I am sorry I ever thought you were a guy…" I told her.

"...Well, if you're done staring, can you hand me my hat?" She asked as she put a shirt on.

"Y-yeah…" I handed over her hat.

"Thanks." She didn't sound mad.

She then took her leave.

Well, I just made that awkward…

"Does she ever show emotion?" I wondered.

"She did when she and Damien were twelve and Damien went missing for a week." Arnold told me.

"A week?!" I was surprised to hear. "What happened?"

"The two and their parents were having a picnic in the park when Damien got separated from Sam." He explained. "He was nowhere to be found and Sam was a nervous wreck until Ivan found him halfway across the city a week later."

"How?" I was more confused.

"No idea." Arnold said. "He was gone with no explanation for where he was. He just showed up again, found by some stranger who he's now best friends with."

"Wait, so you guys met Ivan the same time Damien showed up?" I was even more confused. "I'm gonna have about ten questions for that creep."

"Well, for now just focus on the mission." He reminded me.

"Right…" I looked around.

Speaking of the creep, his sister was chatting with Alice.

"And he was an awkward mess the entire time!" Eileen laughed. Alice was laughing too.

"You know, you're brother was frustrating, but you make me laugh." Alice remarked.

"Hey Eileen, what are you doing here?" I asked. "I didn't see your name in the tournament roster."

"I'm supporting my bro!" She cheered. "Also, cheering on everyone else!"

"But…you do know non-competitors aren't allowed here, right?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Th-they aren't?!" Eileen's eyes widened. "I didn't know! I'll leave ASAP! Oh, Alice, you wanna hang out or something, give me a call!"

"I don't know your number." Alice replied.

Eileen then pulled out a notepad and pen, wrote down a number, and gave it to Alice.

"Give me a call sometime!" Eileen waved goodbye.

"She's quite an airhead, isn't she?" Alice wondered.

"I don't know; I only met her once." I shrugged. "I'm more impressed by how quickly you got a girl's number."

"Ha! You're funny too!" She remarked. "Well, suppose I made a new friend though."

"That not happen often?" I wondered.

"I'm mostly at home learning the ins and outs of business." She told me. "I'm supposed to inherit my father's company."

"Oh right, your family breeds Zapfish…" I remembered.

"Yes…and you knew that how?" She wondered.

"Y-you're Alice Notodarus." I said. "I saw your last name in a magazine once."

"Which magazine?" She seemed unconvinced.

"I…don't remember…" I tried saving myself.

"…Well, I suppose that makes sense." She shrugged. "And you are?"

"Beth Danae." I introduced myself. "I'm also competing in the tournament."

"Oh, lovely." She said. "Well, maybe we'll see each other later on, Beth."

She then tied her hair in a single braid behind her head and waved me goodbye.

She's definitely high class, I'll give her that…

Oh, shark…my next match is coming up soon…

 **Author's Note: The "single braid behind her head" look Alice had is based off a hairstyle in Splatoon 2 concept art. (Why aren't there more hairstyles?)**

 **Also, for now the story will be on a bit of a hiatus for a bit. I plan to get "The Boy From Cirrina" caught up to this one, then focusing on a couple chapters from "Runt of the Litter" before continuing this. Downside to working on three stories at once. Hopefully, I'll be back on a regular schedule by the time the hiatus is over and the story can finally continue.**

 **Until then, if you want, please check out my other works if you haven't yet and have a good day.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Sorry for the hiatus, but it's finally here! The next chapter of the "Life in Inkopolis" Series!**

Chapter 16

 **Turf Wars…Moray Towers…Beth's POV**

Huh…

Us, the Inkstrikes, vs. the Mad Squids.

Ironic that we're having our rematch here…and the same game type…

Did someone set this up?

Well, here goes nothing…

"Beth?" Mei looked at me.

"Yeah?" I looked at her.

"Please don't get mad again…" She begged me. "I knew a person who got overly violent when she was losing and I hate her to this day."

"Hey, I'm not Cass." I told her. "I don't cheat at every fight. Besides, I've been relaxing lately."

She smiled.

 **Ready…Go!**

I went forward with Mei and Arnold while Zoey stayed behind to ink turf behind us.

Arnold got the first splat on Sam before getting behind cover when Damien started firing at him.

Otis came down with his Roller only to get splatted by Mei.

I went up the ramps into their territory. I then found Ivan ready to jump down. He did.

I fired at him, but as usual, he evaded my shots.

"Come on, my sister had better aim than you!" He taunted. "And she mains a Slosher!"

"Eh, maybe…" I shrugged. "But it's still enough to get you!"

He seemed surprised by how relaxed I was. I wasn't getting angry. Heck, I actually felt more focused now.

I was actually focusing my shots better. A few times, he almost got hit.

"Y-you've gotten better!" He noticed. "You're much more relaxed, I've noticed."

"Yeah, it's all the spa trips." I told him.

"You just love the mud baths, don't you?" He asked.

How'd he know I loved the…h-he's just guessing…yeah…

I then noticed something…Mei was climbing the wall behind him.

"Yeah, keep running!" I taunted. "See where that gets ya!"

He smirked.

I then smirked too.

His smirk then dropped.

He noticed Mei behind him as I pressed forward.

Mei jumped up and started firing point blank.

I fired too.

Finally! He's finally gonna-

He then ducked down, evading Mei's shots, spun around, and hit Mei with his roller, splatting her and jumped out of the way just in time to dodge my shots.

"H-how?!" I was extremely confused.

"All those times at the spa have made you too relaxed." He said. "While you're more focused since you aren't getting angry, you're also more slow and sluggish because you're so calm!"

"W-wait, you're sounding like you planned this…" Wait… "Did you plan this?! Me getting mad during our last match and me going to the spa constantly?! All of that?!"

I then got splatted by Otis's Roller as he jumped down.

"Why are you even asking?!" He smirked. "I had the game rigged from the beginning, and it all went down like clockwork!"

 **Otis's POV**

Beth's confused ghost then flew off…

"Did you really plan all that?" I asked, nervously.

"Oh heck no, that was just some lucky heat-of-the-moment stuff." He told me. "I was bullsharking, but thinking I planned this all out will drive her nuts."

"You cheeky bastard!" I patted his back before dodging Arnold's charger shot. "Right…back to the game…"

It was a tough game. It seemed we were evenly matched.

My team was pretty decently experienced. We've done this for years.

On the other team, Arnold and Beth were really tough, but they also had newer members on their team.

That could be why it was somewhat even…

 **3…**

 **2…**

 **1…**

 **Game!**

The scored were tallied and…

"Meow (The winner is…)" Judd started.

"Meow (The Mad Squids)!" Li'l Judd announced.

Wait…we won…?

Looking at the scoreboard, we did…barely, but we did…

"Wow…" Was all I could say.

"W-we actually beat them this year?!" Damien sounded surprised.

"First time for everything." Sammie remarked.

I then saw Beth and her team come over.

Beth sighed.

"Good work, Otis…" She stuck her hand out. "You actually managed to beat Arnold and me this year."

"Uh…thanks…" I shook her hand. It was weird…

"Good game, Otis!" Arnold shook my hand as well.

"Nice match." Mei clapped.

"We suck…" Zoey lamented. "But we'll slaughter you next year!"

Right…bipolar…I forgot…

We then made it back to the Tournament area.

Well, time to kill…and this was my last match for today…guess I can look around for the spy…

I decided to look around for that Alice girl, but I only saw Steve in a seat.

Oh, she's in a match now…she must be fairly good if she got this far…

…Well, I guess I could always…

I got a text…

Go to Octo Canyon…okay…

 **Octo Canyon…**

I arrived to find it was basically an Agent meeting.

Well, Agents plus Mei and Guyver.

Do they count?

Oh…and minus Callie…

"Oh, hey Otis!" Sarah waved.

"Hey!" I waved back.

"So what's this about?" I asked.

Before anyone could answer, Callie came in from behind me, looking panicked. She rushed over to the DJ's snowglobe. He looked confused.

"Huh…" Callie tilted her head.

"What?" Octavio asked.

"Did you bust out of here earlier?" She asked.

"Did I what?" He asked, confused. "No. If I did, I wouldn't be here."

"You sure?" She asked. "Because I saw some Inklings shouting that they saw a large Octopus and some Octolings freaking out saying they 'saw the DJ' in Inkopolis."

"You sure?" I asked.

"They seemed sure." She replied and turned back towards Octavio. "You aren't lying, are you?"

"Wait, you think I broke outta here, scared some children, and then came back?" He tilted in confusion.

"I mean, you could have…" Callie realized how stupid that sounded.

"Tsk tsk…scarin' small children?" The Cap'n shook his head. "What ever happened to that young prince who just wanted the world to hear his music?"

It's obvious he was just teasing the DJ.

"I didn't do squat." Octavio glared at him. "And you know exactly what happened, Cuttlefish!"

"Cap, he's angry enough as it is." Sarah intervened. "Pease don't make it worse."

"If he didn't want me angry, he'd let me outta this globe!" Octavio stated.

"Not happenin' DJ!" The Cap'n told him. "You'll just cause more trouble!"

Octavio just crossed his arms.

"So what's the meeting about?" I asked.

"Marina hacked into some Octarian chatter and apparently they know you're dating Callie." Marie told everyone."

"And that's news because…?" Guyver raised an eyebrow.

"I was in disguise during our date!" Callie said. "It has to be one of the few people who knows about us!"

"To be fair, Callie," I looked at her. "Your disguise doesn't exactly hide your identity very well…"

Callie's jaw dropped and Marie started snickering.

"W-well, it's the best lead we've got!" Callie huffed. "So how many people outside the Splatoon know we're dating?"

"Well…there's my team." I told her. "Remember they caught us on our date night?"

"Oh yeah…" She remembered. "Think one of them is the spy?"

"I don't think so." I shrugged. "I mean, Damien would crack under the pressure, Sam has no motivation to do so, and Ivan…admittedly knows a disturbing amount of information about people, but he doesn't know the meaning of subtlety or keeping things to himself. I doubt they'd pick him."

"Wait…" Marie stopped me. "What kind of things does he know?"

 **30 minutes later…Ammo Knights Basement**

"Uh…why am I down here, handcuffed?" Ivan asked, sitting at a table.

"We're just going to ask you a few questions." Agent 1 said.

Agent 2 nodded.

"Whatever, Callie." He leaned back.

"Wait, how do you know who I am?!" Callie asked, shocked.

"I saw you sucking face with Otis." He looked at her. "You think I wouldn't recognize you because you're wearing the same disguise you wore on your first date with him?"

Callie then took the beanie and shades off.

"So I'm guessing you're Marie, if the gray hair is a sign of anything?" He looked at Agent 2.

"We need new disguises!" Marie stated as she tore her face-mask off and threw her hat to the ground.

"Hopefully he'll keep quiet." Callie hoped.

"Well, now's time for good cop, bad cop." Marie said.

"Oh, can I be bad cop this time?" Callie begged.

"Well…okay." Marie reluctantly agreed. "I guess we could use experience in both cops."

Callie nodded and they both sat across from Ivan.

"So what now?" Ivan looked around.

"You're going to tell us a few things or my cousin here won't be so friendly for long…" Marie calmly threatened. "Don't worry, I'm here to help you."

They both then looked at Callie.

Callie then flipped the table to the side and pulled Ivan up by his sweatshirt.

"TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW OR I'LL RIP YOUR FLOUNDERING HEAD OFF!" Callie threatened.

"Callie!" Marie put a hand on Callie's shoulder. "I said bad cop, not insane cop."

"Oh, sorry Ivan." Callie apologized.

"Is it weird that I kind of wanted to see where it would go from there?" Ivan asked.

Ivan then received a slap to the face.

A minute later, the table was back up.

"Ignoring my cousin's outburst," Marie glared at Callie. "Are you spying for forces that seek to threaten Inkopolis?"

"Um…" Ivan thought about it. "I think I played a spy in one of Damien's Wayseeker campaigns."

"I mean in real life." Marie clarified.

"Am I being accused of a crime?" He asked.

"Yes, but this won't be on the record." Marie told him. "Now, how do you know so much about people?"

"What?" He shrugged. "Is there something I shouldn't know?"

"For example," Marie glared at him. "You know about Sarah's rubber duck with a bow on it that she got from a...uh...tea kettle contest. I know about the rubber duck, Otis knows about it, Guyver knows about it, but how do you know?"

"Wait, you know Guyver too?" He looked at her. "Are you all part of a secret club or something?"

"That's not…answer the question, please." Marie was getting fed up.

"Is it a rubber duck appreciation club?" He leaned in.

Marie facepalmed.

"Well, since I'm here…" He turned to Callie. "How's dating Otis going? Give me all the juicy details!"

"Well-" Callie started.

 **10 minutes later…**

Callie and Marie left Ivan cuffed in the room. Marie was rubbing her temples in frustration.

"I don't think he's the spy." Callie said. "He's way too talkative and weird…a spy would try to be incognito."

"True, but I can tell he's hiding something…" Marie told her. "Did you notice how he completely dodged our questions?"

"Oh yeah…" Callie noticed. "Well, there's always tomorrow."

"Yeah, well…Otis may be dropping out of the tournament…" Marie mentioned.

"Aaaawww…" Callie whined. "Poor Oats…"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

 **The Next Day…Ammo Knights Basement**

Callie and Marie entered the room and walked towards the mattress and covers they left Ivan on.

Callie pulled on the covers.

"Wakey wakey, Iv…" She looked in confusion. "Who are you?"

Slowly, an Inkling girl wearing Ivan's clothes sat up.

"Huh?" She looked around. "Where am I?"

"Who are you?" Marie asked, confused.

"Oh, I'm Eileen!" She answered. "…Why am I here…in my brother's clothes…and handcuffed…?"

Callie and Marie looked at each other.

"Oh Cod…" Her eyes widened. "Is this actually happening?! Well…alright…please be gentle…I'm fragile."

"Okay!" Callie quickly unlocked the cuffs. "Time for you to leave!"

"W-wait…" Marie said. "So Ivan's your brother?"

"Yeah, why?" She tilted her head.

"And he broke out of here…brought you here…and swapped clothes with you?" Marie tilted her head.

"Yeah, sounds like something he'd do." Eileen remarked.

"Wait, does that mean Ivan's wearing Eileen's clothes now or that he's streaking?" Callie asked.

"I'd rather not think about that…" Marie groaned.

The two agents escorted Eileen out.

"Bye Eileen!" Callie waved. "Don't tell anyone about this!"

"…What a scumbag!" Marie crossed her arms. "He threw his own sister under the bus!"

"When did he break out?" Callie wondered.

"Not sure…" Marie said. "I'll have to check the security footage. One thing I can say though…this definitely doesn't make him look innocent…"

 **Later…Sarah's POV**

Well, Octim and Sylvia are hanging out today. Well, at least that means I can focus on Splatoon work…with Guyver…Good thing I have my headphones on just in-case.

We're keeping an eye out for Ivan, who's apparently escaped. From what we've heard, he'll either be wearing a school cardigan or nothing at all…pretty sure it'll be the former…or he'll have changed by now…

"Are you serious?!" I heard someone shout. It was Damien. He was talking to Eileen.

"Oh, hey Sarah!" Eileen noticed me.

"You know my name?" I was surprised.

"Yeah, bro took a photo!" She showed me on her phone…it was taken from a distance…

"You know where Ivan is?" I asked.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon…" Damien huffed. "I mean, we have a tournament to compete in…"

"I'm sure he's close by!" Eileen hand-waved.

"Yeah…" Damien nodded his head. "I'm sure…"

"…So are you two a thing?" I asked.

"No!" Damien shouted.

"Of course not!" Eileen said. "I mean, I'm not even into…well…but don't worry…I'm sure Mr. Stud here'll find someone eventually!"

"Please…stop…" Damien begged. He clearly looked uncomfortable around her.

Damien then looked back at me.

"So why're you here?" Damien asked me. "Didn't you lose?"

"Well, I still wanna watch my bro." I said.

"But you're technically not allowed in the back areas if you're not competing." He told me.

"Well…it's important!" I assured him. "Besides, Eileen's back here too."

"She and Ivan aren't the best at following rules…" He said. "Please be better than them."

"Well, I'm sure I'll find my bro in time for the next match!" Eileen started to leave. "I'll keep in-touch!"

"…Why…?" Damien mumbled with his face in his hand.

"Why what?" I asked.

"Nothing…" He wiped his glasses. "So why were you looking for Ivan?"

"Uh, Otis was wondering where he was." I half-lied.

"Well, he's not here…" Damien told me as he started leaving. "Hopefully he'll be back in-time to play."

"Hey Damien," I stopped him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Okay," He agreed. "What?"

"Arnold said you went missing for a week once." Beth told me that part. "What happened? Where were you?"

He looked at me for a few seconds, clearly trying to think of something to say.

"Where'd you go in the park that you went missing?" I pressed further. "Did someone abduct you?

"Ummmm…" He seemed nervous. "I-I d-don't really w-w..."

"And you met Ivan at the end of it." I mentioned. "How'd that happen?"

"I-I…d-d-don't like t…t…t-to talk…a…ab-b-b-bout it…" He stuttered.

"Okay…" I decided not to press it further. "Sorry if it's an uncomfortable topic…"

"Y-y-yeah…it is…" He said.

Apparently he stutters when he's nervous.

I let him leave, then turned on my headphones.

"Anyone find Ivan?" I asked.

"No…" Otis replied. "Well, our match is coming up in a few minutes. Guess I'm gonna have to break it to the others."

"Sorry, Oats…" I said.

"It's alright…" He shrugged it off.

A minute later, I could hear Damien joining up with Otis and Sam.

"Guys, I don't think Ivan's coming." Otis broke it to them.

"Why do you say that?" Sam asked.

"I'm here!" Ivan shouted as he showed up

"Ivan?!" Otis was shocked that he showed up, as was I. "Y-you're here?!"

"Well, yeah." Ivan replied. "I can't let my team down."

Huh…admittedly that doesn't sound like something spy would do…

Oddly enough, despite showing up, he vanished shortly after their next match ended.

All available agents immediately started searching for him.

He could be anywhere though…what are the chances I'd ru-

"Hey, Sarah!" He appeared out of nowhere. "How're you? That's great! You gotta help me, I think I'm being framed!"

"Framed?" I stared at him. "You sure?"

"Absolutely!" He said. "I mean, I was cuffed by your Rubber Duck Appreciation club and left in the Ammo Knights basement. I escaped, but still."

"Oh yeah…" I remembered. "How'd you escape and swap places with Eileen? Marina said at no point in the security footage was there any moment where you could've left. Did you mess with the footage or something?"

"Marina?" He looked at me. "She's in your Rubber Duck club too? Oh, is she available? I know someone who's looking to be a DJ and could use some teaching."

"That has nothing to do with what I asked!" I told him.

"So will you help me prove my innocence?" He asked.

I needed a moment to catch my thoughts…does Otis deal with this often?

"I-If you can actually prove you're innocent, yes." I told him.

"Hey, isn't the legal system that someone is innocent until proven guilty?" He narrowed his eyes.

"I mean…yeah…" It is. "But-"

"So I'm innocent until you can prove me guilty." He decided. "So keep looking for your spy and I can help you so the others know I'm innocent!"

I…uh…

"O…kay…?" I agreed?

"Great!" He decided. "Now if I were a spy, where would I be? What are spies looking for these days? Rubber ducks?"

How do you even come to that…right…rubber duck club…

"I mean, it's more someone…" I admitted.

"Really?" He looked at me, wide-eyed. "Who?"

Shark…do I tell him?

"…A girl named Alice." I told him. "Alice Notodarus."

"Ooooh…she doesn't like me…" He said. "And we have to make sure she's alright?"

"Yeah…" I replied.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" He asked. "Let's move out! For my innocence and your rubber ducks!"

Ugh…this is gonna be a long day…


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

 **Later…Sarah's POV**

The hallways have gotten a lot emptier since the Tournament started. That 'Only competitors allowed in the back areas' rule makes these hallways look a lot less friendly after a while...

Ivan and I were basically wandering about for a bit accomplishing nothing until it was time for one of his matches, then he would somehow find his way back to me and it'd be the same thing over again.

Please, something break the monotony…

"Three?" Agent 1 suddenly ran into us. "Why are you with the suspect?"

"Ca-Agent 1!" I shouted. "I'm…trying to help-uh…prove his innocence…"

"And I just had an idea!" He told her.

"Your last idea had us wandering around for ten minutes before you gave up and got a soda!" I reminded him.

"It's a good idea this time!" He assured me.

"What is it?" Agent 1 crossed her arms.

"See, my sister gave Alice her number." He started. "She actually got a call a little later, gave me the number, and I added it to my contacts! We can call her and keep an eye on her personally!"

"You added a girl you barely know aboutto your contacts?" Agent 1 tilted her head. "That's weird."

"Ikkan from Squid Squad butt-dialed me once and I added him to my contacts." He told her.

"Your odd habits aside, doesn't she hate you?" I asked.

"Oh, I'll just do an impression of my sister." He said.

"You sure you can do that?" I tilted my head.

He then dialed the number.

"Hiya! It's me, Eileen!" He sounded almost exactly like his sister. "Wanna hang out after your next match? Ten minutes? Cool! Oh, don't worry about Steve, just go through the side door of the locker room. He'll never know! Kay, see ya. Ciao!"

He then hung up and waited for our response.

"…And I thought Ma-uh…Agent 2 was good at impressions…" Agent 1 said.

"Well, time to wait at the girls' locker room side-door." He said as we started going in that direction.

 **10 Minutes Later…**

We waited by the locker room side-door. Callie told the other Agents that we'd be watching the target. Well, we're keeping an eye on both the target and the suspect at once. Ivan spent his leftover time talking on his phone about pointless carp that had nothing to do with the task at hand.

After a few minutes, a girl with a purple braid came out of the door. She looked around before narrowing her eyes at Ivan.

"Excuse me, but why are you here?" She hissed at Ivan.

"Hey, sorry for tricking you," He apologized. "But we're here to make sure you're safe."

"Why?" She was confused. "Why wouldn't I be safe?"

"Well, catfish is out of the bag…" I mumbled.

"There are some people who are looking for you." Agent 1 said. "Bad people."

"Oh heavens!" Alice was shocked. "Whatever for?"

"Probably because you're a rich girl who's dad runs a large company." Ivan guessed. "A ransom probably."

"And they're just waiting for you to be away from your bodyguard." I added.

"Like right now?" She seemed scared.

Wait…

"Alright, back to your bodyguard!" Agent 1 said.

"Hey Steve!" Ivan ran ahead of us. "Aaand he's gone."

"Gone?!" We shouted in unison.

We rushed to the corner and the large crab was gone.

"You buffoon!" Alice slapped Ivan. "Now I'm a sitting duck for whoever wishes to whisk me away to who knows where!"

"You somehow managed to make squidnapping sound magical." Agent 1 remarked.

"Hey, don't worry!" I patted Alice on the back. "He may be gone, but now you have two of the best bodyguards you can ask for!"

"We don't have our weapons…" Agent 1 reminded me.

"Oh…" That's right… "Well, we just have to be careful."

We then started walking.

"Don't worry, Alice!" Ivan said a few yards ahead of us. "They won't get the drop on me!"

He then turned the corner.

"Uh…guys?" He called out.

"What?" Agent 1 asked as we approached.

"They got the drop on me…" He said as two Octoling Elites were pointing their weapons at him.

One then hit him on the head.

"And now I fall down…" He said as he fainted.

"Ivan!" I shouted. "Don't worry, we can-"

I was interrupted by someone putting a weird-smelling damp cloth over my nose.

"Hush little runt-ling, don't say a word…" A beautiful voice quietly sand. "If you do, you will get hurt…"

I then slowly lost consciousness just as Callie and Alice noticed what happened.

 **Later…**

Wake up…

"Wake up!" I heard a voice say.

"Waaayayayayaaake up!" Ivan was shaking me.

"Ivan?!" I got up and looked around.

Callie was still unconscious and Alice was gone.

"Aaaawww!" I put my head in my hands. "We failed!"

"They couldn't have gone far!" He told me. "You go look for her while I keep an Eye on Callie!"

I nodded my head and ran off.

 **Tournament Hallways…**

Callie slowly woke up.

"What happened?" Callie asked.

"Rich girl's gone and Sarah's looking for her." Ivan told her.

"Great…" Callie groaned. "Where're my…can you help me find my shades?"

"Sure!" He immediately started looking around.

"…Where'd they go?" Callie was confused.

"…Here they are!" Ivan said. "Right around the corner!"

He then handed them over.

"Thanks, Ivan." She put them on. "Now we…wait…these aren't my shades…"

"They aren't?" Ivan tilted his head.

"Oh Cod…" Callie put her hands on her head as the shades started lighting up. "Not again!"

"What are you…?"

 **Sarah's POV**

"All Agents, the target's been taken!" I shouted over the comms. "Start looking for any Octolings in soldier outfits!"

Come on, where are they?!

They can't just wander off into the square…the roof!

"Guys, I think they might be going to the roof!" I said. "It's only a guess, so send a few people up!"

I hurried over to the roof. Sure enough, there was an Octarian UFO there that just had a tarp taken off of it.

An unconscious Alice was being carried in.

Elites saw me and immediately opened fire. I took cover.

Agent 2, Otis, and Guyver were up in a few seconds and started firing at them. Unfortunately, the UFO was already in the air was about to take off.

"Quickly!" Marie shouted. "Someone Superjump onto-"

She was interrupted when someone knocked her down and ran past us. While we were distracted by that, the ship took off.

Alice was Taken.

We failed.

"Great!" Marie shouted. "Can this day get any worse?!"

She got her answer when the mysterious figure stopped at the edge and turned around.

"Bahahaha!" The familiar figure laughed. "IIIIIII'm baaaaaaack!"

It was Callie in the outfit she wore in her concert with the DJ.

"Callie?!" Otis shouted. "You put the shades back on again?!"

Again?

"Catch me if ya can, losers!" Evil Callie taunted as she turned into a squid and jumped off the building towards the Octo Canyon manhole.

"Oh no!" Marie shouted as we jumped after her. "You aren't freeing the DJ again!"

Wait…she freed the DJ? When did that happen?!

We then dove through the manhole after her and soon got to the other side.

"Too late fools!" Cal-Evil shouted as she ran. "For I shall now…where is he?!"

We all stopped when we noticed the snowglobe was empty.

Marie then quickly tackled Callie and swiped the shades.

"Ooooow…" Callie groaned. "Huh? Where's the DJ?!"

We looked over to see the Cap'n sleeping.

"Gramps, what the shell?!" Marie shouted. "…Gramps?"

Guyver then walked over, paused a second, and reached for his ears.

He had been wearing earplugs.

"Gramps?" Callie grabbed his shoulder.

"Hm?" He woke up. "Oh, hello Cal-whazzit?! Where'd Octavio go?!"

"…Uh…guys?" Otis picked up a piece of paper attached to the snowglobe.

It was a note that read as follows:

 _Sorry to bother you, but we'll be borrowing your DJ for a bit. We'll return him when we're done with him. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and hope you aren't too mad at us._

 _Love: Oh wait…we could get in trouble for this…why am I writing this part? We'll just say it's some not bad people who want to borrow him for a bit. Again, sorry…_

I blinked a bit as after I read it.

"…What the fu-"

 **Elsewhere…**

"Ugh…My head…" I sat up and looked around. "Where am I?!"

I was surrounded by what looked to be soldiers.

"Greetings, Miss Notodarus and welcome to Octo Gorge." A male voice got my attention.

A black-haired man wearing goggles walked over and kneeled down in front of me.

"My name is Sieg."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

 **Octo Canyon…**

"What the shell do we do now?!" Sarah shouted.

"I don't know!" Callie shouted. "Marie, what do we do?!"

"I'm thinking!" Marie shouted.

"Everyone, quiet!" Cap'n Cuttlefish put his cane down. "Things may seem bad now, but back in my day things seemed bad at first and were able turn the tables around later. There's still time fer that. We just have to take a breath, gather our senses, look at our options, and come up with a plan."

"Right." Marie replied. "Thanks Gramps."

"Codenames, Agent 2!" The Cap'n reminded her.

"Uh…right…" Marie rubbed the back of her head.

"Hm…I'd say fer now we should get the young lady Marina to use her Octarian hacking know-how to help when she gets the chance." He suggested. "Until then, the rest of you take a break to clear yer heads. I'll call you when we're ready. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

"Yes, Cap'n!" All the present agents saluted.

 **Later…Beth's POV**

Geez…first I lost to Otis and now we lost to Octarians.

This just isn't my day…

Well, for the moment I was on the couch, watching TV to 'clear my head.' Should be out patrolling, but Cap insisted. Well, at least Mei's good company. She decided to snuggle up next to me while I was…holding the remote….I kind of suck at this romance stuff…

"So-um…babe?" I looked at her.

"Babe?" She looked confused. "Since when do you call me that?"

Carp…

"I-uh…since now?" Shit, that sounded bad. "I'm sorry…I'm no good at this…"

"It's fine." Mei assured me. "Just snuggling is fine enough. Like with the Octo-Samurai plushie I used to have."

"Octo…Samurai?" I was confused.

"Oh yeah, anyone who was anyone had some of his merchandise." She explained. "He was a huge star in Octarian wrestling who later joined the army and became an Octoboss in Octo Canyon."

"Huh…neat…" I admitted. "You…want me to go into the Canyon and get his autograph for you?"

"That won't happen, unfortunately…" She sighed. "The Splatoon splatted him and he was picked up by Kamabo. I fought his sanitized self in the Metro."

"Sorry to hear that…" I said.

"Yeah…" She seemed down. "And he was still in his prime. Roller skills, the Octocycle, his good looks…"

Good looks?

"What'd he look like?" I was curious.

"Oh, you got my scrapbook from the Valley!" She rushed to her and Zoey's room and back. "I have a picture in there!"

She found the right page.

"See?" She showed me. "Pretty handsome, huh?"

"…Yeah…" I reluctantly agreed. "He's…pretty hot…"

"Oh, I think I have one of his fights in one of my old tapes!" She went back to her room.

Handsome? He looks like an oversized Octoseeker in a leather jacket.

Octarians must have different standards of beauty. Well, makes sense when most of your population is made of sentient tentacles.

Wait…do Octolings date the living tentacles? How does that even…?

I have so many questions I'm not sure I want to know the answer to.

I then got a text.

"You'll love this one!" She said, carrying in the old tape. "It's the fourth Octomonger fight!"

"That'll have to wait 'till later, babe!" I said, running to my room to grab my uniform. "I'm going with Agents 1 and 2 to meet Alice's father to let him know we're on the case and to keep this under wraps."

"Oh…okay…" She seemed disappointed. "Guess We'll watch this when you come back…"

I rolled my eyes.

"You wanna come?" I put my hands on my hips.

"Yes!" She ran into her room to grab something to wear.

"Make sure it hides your identity!" I told her.

She came back in wearing her Metro outfit again. With a Null-suit helmet though.

"What about your identity?" She seemed confused.

I grabbed my Hero's Shroud and pulled the hood over my head. She nodded her head, impressed.

"Now let's move out!" I immediately ran out the door.

"Beth, I just remembered!" She shouted.

"What it it?!" I quickly turned around.

"You called me 'babe' again." She smirked.

I sighed as we prepared to Superjump.

We both flew into the distance.

 **10 minutes Later…**

We landed at the meeting place. Apparently Alice's father was inside the large building. Agents 1 and 2 arrived shortly after. They looked surprised.

"You…brought Mei?" Agent 1 asked, confused.

"Who's Mei?" Mei innocently asked. "I thought I was 'Babe'."

I groaned.

I'm never going to live that down…

"Well, your newfound habit of bringing not Agents is annoying," Agent 2 said. "But at least it's healthier than your other habit."

"I'll have you know I haven't done that in at least a week and a half." I told her. "Agent 8 here is making me a clean squid."

"Well, I wouldn't say clean…" Agent 2 quipped. "For now though, it's time to talk to Mr. Thomas Notodarus."

We nodded and sneaked in. There was security, but we managed to slip through the vents.

We eventually came across an office with a few different people crowded around a desk. Sitting at the desk was a purple-haired Inkling, I'd say in his late 40's, clean shaven, must be Mr. Notodarus.

We figured we'd have to wait a bit for him to be alone.

As expected, he was freaking out about his daughter's disappearance. Apparently Steve the crab was told by someone that Alice sneaked off to somewhere else and went to go check. Didn't prevent him from getting fired though, poor guy.

Eventually, he did ask the other people to leave him alone for a bit. After they left, we dropped into the room.

"Hello, Mr. Notodarus." Agent 2 greeted him.

"Who are you?!" He panicked. "Get out or I'll call security!"

"We're trying to help find your daughter." I told him as he was grabbing the phone.

He then set the phone down.

"Where's my daughter?" He asked us. "Tell me what you know."

"First, let us introduce ourselves." Agent 2 said. "We're Agents of a secret organization called the New Squidbeak Splatoon. We protect Inkopolis from threats."

"And your daughter's been squidnapped so that some unruly figures can gain Zapfish." I explained. "We tried to prevent it without a fuss, but it happened anyway."

"But we'll get her back!" Agent 1 told him.

"…Who has my daughter?" He looked at us.

He got his answer when two figures dropped from the vents we came through.

The black hair showed they were both Octoling Elites. One had blue wrings in his hair whilst the other had white stripes in his hair. Both wore goggles. The blue-ringed one wore a bandanna.

"I recognize that Octoling…" Agent 2 told us, glaring at the one in the bandanna.

"Octoling?" Alice's dad was confused. "As in the Octarian Menace?"

What other kind are there?

"Yes." I confirmed. "And they took your daughter."

He then reached for the phone.

"I'm going to call-"

One of them pressed a button that killed the line and turned the computer at his desk on.

"Hello, Mr. Notodarus." A voice on the screen greeted him. "I'm here to ask something of you."

We couldn't see the speaker from this side, but we were certain it was Sieg.

"Where's my daughter?!" Mr. Notodarus demanded to know. "If you hurt her, I'll-"

"She is unharmed." Sieg assured him. "We'll just hold her here until you agree to cooperate. See, we Octarians are undergoing a crisis. Our power is running low and out homes are deteriorating. We need Zapfish to power our civilization. It's a band-aid to the problem, but it'll help some. You have the power to do give us what we need. Pun not intended."

"Why should I give you anything after you squidnapped my daughter?!" Mr. Notodarus shouted.

"You do care about your daughter, right?" He asked. "If you want her back, safe and sound, you will give us Zapfish. Simple as that."

"I'll get my daughter back." Mr. Notodarus said. "And I won't be giving you anything."

"If you won't give us the power we need, then you won't be seeing your daughter." Sieg told him. "I thought since Inklings naturally don't care about us Octarians, that you'd at least be willing to trade in exchange for your own flesh and blood, but that doesn't seem to be the case at all."

"Are you implying that I don't care about my own daughter?" He was clearly offended by what Sieg was implying.

"I'm just asking you to show that there's a chance that Inklings have hearts in those bodies of theirs and are capable of empathy." Sieg said. "Sharp and Eye here will leave you the device they used to have you communicate with me."

"I will never call you." Mr. Notodarus growled. "I will never give you anything!"

"Then you'll never see your daughter again." Sieg bluntly told him. "Call me any time you wish to talk. Hopefully, you'll be calling to bargain. Sieg out."

The one I guess was named Eye pressed the button again and Sieg was dropped from the screen. He then walked over and set the communicator on the desk. As he returned to his comrade, he flashed me a cheeky smirk before they both squid-jumped back into the vents.

"I'm calling the authorities!" Mr. Notodarus said as he grabbed the phone again.

"Please don't!" Agent 1 begged. "We don't want to cause a panic!"

"What?!" He was confused. "Why?"

"The Splatoon works in secret." Agent 2 explained. "We do what we do in secret so people can sleep in peace at night and so we don't risk another war."

He thought about it for a bit.

"Okay, I'll keep quiet." He reluctantly agreed. "Just…promise me you'll get her back…"

"We will." I told him. "It may take a bit, but we'll get her back."

He let us go out the front door shortly after, telling his security to let us in no questions asked and to not tell anyone. We'll think of something for sure.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

 **Three Days Later…Sarah's POV**

The Tournament ended early yesterday. That Toxic Mist team won again. I guess when you already won twice, you can do it again. I didn't really care since there were bigger fish to fry. The Octarians squidnapped that Alice girl we were supposed to be keeping an eye on and Octavio escaped somehow.

On top of that, Ivan disappeared again. We still aren't sure if he's a spy or not since he acts really shady, but he also tried helping us and continued to help his team until they eventually lost. Well, Marina and Pearl have more free time now, so they can help us with Marina's hacking skills and Pearl's…uh…spirit.

At the moment, I was just lying on the couch, waiting for something to happen.

Guyver was listening to something on his headphones.

"Wha'cha listening to?" I asked him.

"Eh, some of Octavio's music." He said. "I remember I used to listen to his fourth album when I wanted to calm down. It's where most of his 'feel good' music is."

"He just escaped, doing Cod knows what evil stuff right now, and you're listening to his music?" I was surprised.

"I mean, the Great Zapfish is still there, so he doesn't seem to be focused on that." He explained. "Also, it seems someone broke him out, but will apparently they will return him later…I don't know either, but it actually seems like he's not the biggest worry right now."

Well, he wasn't wrong…

"…Hey, so…can I listen too?" I asked. "I only ever heard his remix of 'Bomb Rush Blush'."

"Sure!" He took the CD out and put in in a music player.

Huh…for a squidnapper, brainwasher, and overall jerk…I'll admit he does make good music…

"So this is his fourth album, you said?" I asked.

"Yeah." He answered. "If you want his vocals, you should listen to his first three albums and his sixth."

"Wait...he sings?!" I stared at him in shock. "Isn't his voice a little...you know..."

"I-it was better when he was young." He told me. "Everyone agrees that him deciding to drop the vocals later was for the best. The weird robot auto-tune voice he used in his seventh album has some fans, but it never left that album. Again, for the best."

I took his word for it and we decided to listen while playing cards.

We then heard a knocking on the door. Guyver paused the music as I answered it.

It was Tim.

"Hi Tim." I grinned. "What're you doing here? Hey, you got a haircut!"

"Hey Sarah, thanks for noticing." He waved. "I just wanted to see how you guys were doing since I haven't seen you since the tournament."

"Well, come in Tim!" I invited him in. "We're just listening to some tunes! Why don't you get yourself a Tenta Cola and chill out with us?"

"Alright, sounds good!" He came in and got himself a drink.

"So how's the DJ stuff coming along?" Guyver asked.

"Wait, you want to be a DJ?" I was surprised.

"It's pretty much all Octarians ever want to be these days." Guyver answered.

"Well, I got some equipment to practice with." Tim told us. "I-uh…figured I'd try winging it."

"Well, that's nice." I admired his spirit.

"Oh Octo, Tim…" Guyver shook his head. "I'll ask Marina if she wants to give you some pointers."

"I-if she has the time…" Tim told him. "I don't wanna bother her too much…"

"It'll be fine." Guyver assured him, rolling his eyes.

Tim then took a seat while we got back to our game.

"So what're you listening to?" He asked, taking a sip.

"Just some beats from home." Guyver told him as he turned them on.

"Hm…nice…" Tim said.

"Yeah…" I admitted. "It ain't half bad.

"Not…at all…" Tim seemed like the music.

After a few minutes, he got up and left.

"Tim?" I looked at him as he walked out the door. "Where're ya going?"

He didn't respond. He just walked out the door.

"Must've had something to do." Guyver shrugged.

I guess...

"…So what's the Splatoon doing about these current events, anyway?" Guyver asked.

"Well, Marina's going to try to hack into the Octarian's security systems to find a way into Octo Gorge so we can save Alice." I told him. "We also have Arnold patrolling the Canyon while Beth patrols the Valley to see if Octavio could've gone to one of those places."

"...Huh…getting pretty cloudy…" Guyver noticed as he looked outside.

"It's supposed to storm later tonight." I told him.

"Storm?" His eyes widened. "I've never seen a storm before…weather's been pretty nice since I've been here with only a light rain here and there. Mei doesn't like them though…she said they're pretty bad."

"Depends on how bad the storm can be." I told him.

"…So any word on the Gorge?" He asked.

"Marina's looking into it, but until she finds something we're basically sitting on our hands until then." I told him. "Our last mission ended badly."

"Well, things will be fine, I'm sure." He shrugged. "Maybe this Sieg guy just wants Zapfish to power the domes."

"Guyver, you know it won't stop there." I reminded him. "Cassandra said that his goal is to bring the Octarians back to the surface."

"I don't see anything wrong with that…" He grumbled.

"Guyver, you of all people know I don't hate Octarians." I sighed. "What I'm saying is if he's resorting to squidnapping, he may end up hurting a lot of people to do that."

He then lied down on his back.

"Ugh…" He groaned. "Things are just gonna get worse, aren't they?"

"I don't know…" I admitted.

I decided to check with the Splatoon over the phone.

 **4: Hey. Anything yet?**

 **Agent 2: Asking over and over again doesn't automatically make something happen.**

 **4: I know, but is there at least any progress?**

 **Agent 2: Other than letting Alice's dad know we're on the job and to keep quiet, nothing really.**

 **4: What about the friendly DJ? Has she found anything?**

 **Agent 2: Hold on.**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: Hi 4!**

 **4: Hey! Any progress?**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: Well, there are pipes connecting the settlements together. There are some connecting to the Gorge.**

 **4: So we just have to swim through those.**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: Unfortunately, the alternate route runs through another settlement and is probably guarded. So I'm looking into the security protocols. From what I've gathered so far, we'd have to use kettle pipes near the personal dome of Octo Canyon's Sector Commander.**

 **4: Doesn't sound too hard. Heck, maybe the Commander's nice.**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: Unfortunately she's a total suck up to Octavio and has admittedly strong guards. We'd also have to go make a stop to use the pipes in Octo Ravine, which I know even less about**

 **4: So what's on the order of business until then?**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: Well, 3.5 is patrolling Octo Canyon and 3 and 8 are patrolling the valley. I imagine it's a bit of a nostalgia trip for 8.**

 **9: Oh, can I ask you something?**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: Oh hey! Shoot!**

 **9: We have a friend who's trying to become a DJ himself. He actually decided after seeing you guys on TV, so I think you're his idol now. Think you could give him some pointers when you get the chance?**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: I inspired someone to become a beatsmith? Sure, I'd love to help! I'm free tomorrow, so I can give him some pointers then!**

 **9: Thanks, DJH. Stay fresh! :)**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: :D**

 **4: You're awesome, 9!**

 **9: But you're more awesome!**

 **4: No, you.**

 **9: No, you.**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: Wait, aren't you two just hanging out in your apartment today? Within speaking distance?**

Guyver and I then looked at each other.

 **4: Right…**

 **4: Well, see ya later!**

 **DJ_Hyperfresh: Byyyyyyyeeeee!**

Guyver then lied back.

"Well, hopefully there won't be any more surprises." He sighed.

I then pounced on him, yelling: "Surprise!"

"Heh…" He smirked. "Well, no bad surprises."


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: New Follower! Thanks speedynate057 for your interest in the story and I hope you, my other followers, and everyone else who reads this continues to enjoy my works!**

Chapter 21

 **Octo Valley…Beth's POV**

All this searching and no sign of Octavio…where did that geezer go?

"Mei, got anything from the radio chatter?" I asked.

"No." Mei shook her head. "Not a single peep about Octavio returning."

"Maybe there's a clue in his home…" I suggested. "We should check his…uh…personal dome?"

"You're right, he has a personal dome." She nodded her head. "We can't get in though…"

"Mei, are you forgetting you're talking to the squid who took him down two years ago?" I smirked.

"And the top-tier, best of the best Elites and security systems are put to use guarding his personal dome." She told me. "We can't sneak in and we can't fight our way in."

"Must be protecting something really important in there…" I guessed.

"Most of the royal family resides in that dome." She informed me. "They get the best of the best."

"How many are there, anyway?" I asked.

"Octavio had 8 children." She replied. "And all but one had 8 children."

"Woah, they got busy…" I was surprised. "What happened to the last one though?"

"Killed by Inklings on Mount Nantai." She sighed. "It was a sad day for all."

"I've…never heard of that…" I was intrigued. "The Cap'n never even mentioned that…"

"He probably didn't know either." She shrugged. "No one likes to talk about it."

"That bad, huh?" I guessed.

"It was his favorite." She explained. "Marked to be the heir even, but he died. To this day, Octavio still hasn't named an heir."

"Hm…" That could explain some… "Call 3.5. Maybe he found something."

She nodded her head and turned on the radio.

"This whole trip must be a trip down memory lane, huh?" I looked at her.

"Last two years are like a dream." She remarked. "I remember a bit, but it's very fuzzy."

"And before that?" I wondered.

"It was mostly me, Guyver, and later Zoey." She told me.

"You lived with Guyver's parents, right?" I remembered. "What were they like?"

"They were pretty nice to me," She replied. "But Guyver had a falling out with them after they tried setting us up together."

"Gross." It really was.

"So what about your parents?" She turned to me. "What were they like?"

"Uh…ha!" I crossed my arms. "I was an orphan! Raised on the streets by killers and thieves!"

"Really?" Her eyes widened.

"No she wasn't." Arnold tuned in over the radio. "Her parents live a country over."

"Shut up, Arnold!" I hissed. "I mean, 3.5…carp…"

"Why'd you say lie, Three?" Mei looked sad.

"They're just really embarrassing." Arnold answered.

"Anyway," I wanted to change the subject. "Find anything, 3.5?"

"No." Arnold answered. "Think he moved to a different settlement?"

"It's possible." I acknowledged. "He just wants to give us a self-guided tour of all the settlements, doesn't he?"

"Well, I'm gonna keep looking." Arnold said. "I think I'm getting close to where he was staying the last time he was here."

"Okay, 3.5. Good luck." I ended the transmission.

"…You okay, Mei?" I noticed she seemed distracted.

"S-sorry, it's just…" She seemed upset. "We're actually getting close to…dome 36…"

"…That's the one you lived in before moving with Guyver, isn't it?" I guessed. "The one that collapsed…"

She nodded her head.

"Maybe we should keep moving…" I suggested. "Best we don't bring up some bad memories."

"Yeah…" She agreed.

 **Later…**

Well, this is where I fought his Octobot King, but still no sign of him.

"Be-er…Three?" Mei spoke.

"Yeah, Mei?" I looked over to her.

She was staring at stadium seats overlooking the long pathways I fought on.

"Do…do you think my life would've been better…if I was born a squid?" She asked.

"Why're you asking that?" I was concerned.

"It's just…everything goes badly for us Octarians…" She sighed. "Sometimes, even back then, I'd wonder what my life would be like if I was something else…"

"Mei…" I walked over and put my arms around her. "I'm not the best at emotional support, but you don't live down here anymore. You have a better life now, and frankly I think you're great just the way you are…"

"Heh…you did say I'm adorable…" She remembered.

"Well, yeah…" I blushed a bit.

I then started blushing a lot when she pressed her lips against mine. A few seconds passed before she pulled away.

"You okay?" She looked confused.

"Y-yeah…" I whimpered. "It's just…you haven't kissed me there until now…"

Her eyes widened and her face got red.

"Oh dear…" She was a bit embarrassed herself. "Well…first time for everything, right?"

"Eheh…yeah…" I guess… "W-well, if he isn't here, we might as well head back."

Mei nodded in agreement.

"3.5, we're heading home." I radioed Arnold.

"Alright," He replied. "I think I'm close to the Commander's dome. I'll head back in a bit."

"Okay, just don't get captured and brainwashed again." I told him.

"Same to you." He replied.

Right…I'm one to talk…

 **Octo Canyon…Arnold's POV**

Decently guarded, as expected.

Huh…I expected a dome filled with hallways and rooms, but it's one of the large, open domes. And they've built some large buildings to resemble old pre-war Octarian architecture. Interesting…

Well, Octos have style…I'll give them that…

O-kaaay…apparently the nearby guards also styled themselves after pre-war Octarian guards…I'm sensing a theme here…

If this is a pre-war look, I wonder if Octavio stayed here last time…I'll take a closer look…

Alright…past the guard towers…towards the wall…huh…the wall here feels warm…and is that steam? What's over there?

I climbed up the wall for a look.

Hm…hot water…oh, some Octolings girls. They're-OH COD!

I lost my balance and fell back to where I was.

Huh…an open bathing area…I was not expecting that…Oh wow, my face is red…

Wait…

I turned my head to find an Octotrooper staring right at me.

Oh shark…

"I found the Intruder!" She called out. "The intruder is here!"

I bolted as fast as I could.

Wait…she found the intruder? They knew that I was here?!

Carp…there must've been hidden cameras!

I quickly found a spot to hide as the guards passed.

I can't believe I got found out that easily!

…

Okay…they're gone…

I need to find the nearest kettle out of here…

Schematics…schematics…yes! Just a few more turns!

And there it is. Surprised no one's watching it though…oh well…

"There you are…" A voice behind me said. "Batter up!"

I turned around just in time to see the bat hit my face, then black.

…

 **Another POV**

"Yes!" I squealed. "I found you!"

"Cass, I know you wanted to hit on him," My partner noted. "But I'm preeeetty sure that's not what that means…"

"Shut up, Eye!" I hissed. "All that matters is that he's here! Thanks for your help though, you may leave now."

"Okie-dokie…" He took his leave.

I stomped on his headphones, breaking them, and grabbed him by the legs.

"Geez, you're heavier than you look!" I remarked. "Oh well…you're coming with me, dearie…"

 **Sorry everyone for the wait, by the way. I had to finish one story to lighten the load a bit. But now, with one finished, I only have two to work on right now, and continuing the story at that. Well, hopefully it'll be worth the wait and I hope you enjoy!**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

 **Cuttlefish Cabin…Mei's POV**

We'd just arrived at the cabin to report back to the Cap'n when it looked like he, Callie and Marie were starting to worry about something.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"3.5's not picking up." Callie told us. "We think he' been captured!"

"Again..." Marie added. "He lets two prisoners get away and gets captured twice. This is not going to look good on his record."

"We can't lose Arnold!" I whined. "Who squidnapped him?!"

"We aren't sure." The Cap'n said. "All we know is it was somewhere in near the central dome. He could be in there, or they could've taken him somewhere else."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt for us to check." Beth said. "You wanna come?"

"Sure." I nodded my head. "We can't let an agent get brainwashed again."

"Alrighty then…" The cap'n walked over, raised his cane, and tapped both of my shoulders with it. "Yer now the official Agent 8."

"R-really?" I was surprised.

"Eh, why not?" Marie shrugged. "If Three's going to take you on missions anyway, we might as well make you official."

I nodded my head and we were off.

 **10 Minutes Later…**

We were getting close to where Arnold was taken.

"Alright, we're nearing the commander's lair." Three said. "Know anything about him?"

I brought up my Octo-phone.

"Well, I know he's a her for one." I told her. "She's a complete suck-up to Octavio with an appreciation for the old style."

"Which is…" She wasn't sure.

"You'll see." I replied.

We arrived at the area. I had seen pictures of old Octarian buildings before and heard this commander styled her personal dome after one, so I wasn't too surprised, but impressed by what I saw.

Beth however, was completely dumbstruck by what she saw.

"You seeing this, Cap?" She said, grabbing her headphone.

"This lady seems to appreciate the classics." The Cap'n said. "Ah, seein' this takes me back…"

"Pre-war days?" I asked.

"Yep." He replied. "I heard some town were preserved, but I've never visited them…If there's one thing I miss, it's walkin' around the towns samplin' the local food, takin' in the sights, and wooin' the ladies."

"Cap, gross." Beth groaned. "We don't need to hear about your skirt-chasing days…"

"Hehehe, sorry about that." The Cap'n apologized. "Just reminiscin' about the old days."

"Well, can you reminisce useful information?" I hoped.

"I know the general layout of an Octo castle." The Cap'n replied. "I'll give ya the rundown."

"Alright…what are we looking at now?" Beth asked. "The area with the steam."

"Oh, that'd be the outdoor bathin' area." The Cap'n told us. "I remember one time I caught Octavio tryin' to sneak a peek into one of those."

"Well, at least we know it's not what we're looking for." Beth said, clearly trying not to picture it.

"Any tips for breaking in?" I asked.

"I remember I'd scale a wall if I needed to sneak in." The Cap'n said. "There's also usually a hidden back entrance somewhere, but I don't think she's goin' fer that much authenticity."

"We'll make do." Three said.

We then made our way over, avoiding the guards, and were up against a wall. Three then squatted down and cupped her hands, signaling me to come over. I walked over and put my foot in her hands and she gave me a boost up and I managed to grab a ledge. I pulled myself up, reached my hand down, and pulled Three up.

We then made our way to the nearest window, shifted forms, and squeezed through.

We made our way down the hallways. Security was relatively low; I guess she wasn't expecting anyone to come here. We soon found a room with a light on and peeked in. We could see Octoling girls in kimonos doing an old-style of sitting in their knees while one was standing up, about to speak.

"Alright, ladies." She began. "I've had many ideas floating in my head recently, some good, some bad. But this plan, I think, is genius."

We prepared to barge in.

"Behold!" A curtain opened up to show two Salmonlings, one girl in a custom kimono and one boy in a custom gi. "So…thoughts?"

"I don't think they're used to wearing long, flowing clothes." One Octoling said.

The Lead Octoling turned around to see the girl flopping the sleeves around as if she was trying to fly while the boy was nibbling on his sleeve.

"…It's a work in progress…" She Lead Octoling said. "I'm just giving ideas on how to expand our decorative franchise into the Gorge. We just need to figure out how to get that pizazz just right…If only Callie was still here…"

A collective sigh rang in the audience.

Wait, they wish Callie was here?

We decided to hide and wait until the meeting was over and everyone was heading out to enter the room where that Lead Octoling was writing on a chalkboard.

"Hm?" She turned around and noticed us. "E-excuse me, perhaps you're blind and didn't notice, but there's a dress-code here!"

We aimed our weapons.

"I assume you're the commander?" Beth asked.

"I am…" She answered, narrowing her eyes. "Typical barbaric Inklings can never just leave us alone…"

"We're looking for our friend." I told her.

"And you are…?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Agent 8." I told her.

"Why do you agents bother with code-names?" She rolled her eyes. "We already know who most of you are."

"Alright, Mei Argo." I revealed. "I have no connections here you could threaten me with, so there's no harm in telling you."

"Oh, a natural!" She seemed pleasantly surprised. "Aaand…who is this friend of yours?"

"He's an Inkling with purple hair." Beth told her. "We figured the head honcho would know where he is."

She gave Three an unimpressed glare before returning her gaze towards me.

"Well Mei, while there was an alarm of an intruder earlier, I don't know what happened after that." She told me. "Perhaps he was captured, perhaps he escaped, or perhaps he was splatted. Whatever happened, I wasn't told."

"Seriously?!" Three shouted. "You lying little-"

"Do you have a leash for this one?" She asked me. "Or a muzzle, perhaps?"

"Just who do you think you are?!" Three growled.

"Thank you for asking, Mei." She was doing this on purpose. "My name is Julia Octavian Traeger. You may call me Julia."

"Don't you act like you can't hear me…" Three hissed.

"Now, unless you have something to contribute, I suggest you leave." She turned back to the chalkboard.

"We have more questions." Three persisted. "Where's the DJ?"

"Lord Octavio?" Julia turned to face Me. "But you agents already took him. Did you just forget that?"

"Don't bullshark me!" Three put the Hero Shot to her head. "Octavio escaped, one of our agents is missing now, and I heard that Octarian respawns are slow and painful. I suggest you talk or else."

Julia rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry to tell you, but I don't know anything." She told three. "If Octavio returned to us, I would've gotten a message about it. You can check my computer even. I also only heard about an intruder matching your missing comrade's description and later was told that he was gone. That's all I know."

Three stared at her intently for what seemed like forever before lowering her weapon.

"Well, at least you'll acknowledge me with a weapon pointed at your head." Three remarked as she turned to leave. "We'll leave for now. If I find out you're lying, I'll make you regret it."

"I'll beef my security in preparation." Julia said, crossing her arms. "Oh, when you see Miss Callie again, can you tell her we need her back here? She helped us with our dome decorations and we'd LOVE to have her extend that pizazz to our fashions."

"Callie's not coming back here." Three stated.

"She isn't?" Julia asked, surprised. "Shame…she has quite a few fans here. Impressive, for an Inkling…"

We left immediately after and made our way to the kettle.

"Well, that accomplished nothing…" I sighed.

"No, we do know some things…" Three said. "We know that Octavio hasn't returned to the settlements, so he might be hiding in the city or somewhere else…clever Octopus...We can also try having Marina hack into the security footage to see if we can find some clues as to who squidnapped Arnold."

I nodded my head and we headed back to the cabin.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

 **Chatroom…**

 **Agent 2: So we have some plans ahead of us due to new information.**

 **Agent 1: Well, what is it? Spill the beans!**

 **Agent 2: I was just about to. Hold your seahorses.**

 **Oatmeal: Spill the beans! Spill the beans! Spill the beans!**

 **Agent 2: I am not replying to someone with the userame "Oatmeal"!**

 **Agent 1: LOL**

 **4.5: How's this?**

 **Agent 2: Better.**

 **Agent 2: Now, thanks to the information brought to us by agents 3 and 8, we know two things.**

 **Agent 2: That whoever squidnapped 3.5 wasn't ordered to do so, and that Octavio hasn't returned to the settlements yet. We think he may be hiding somewhere inside or around the city.**

 **4: But where would he go?**

 **CraigCuttlefish: That's what we're trying to figure out. Octavio's always been a crafty one. He'd be hiding in the last place we'd think to look. Somewhere no one would go.**

 **4: Like Inkopolis Plaza?**

 **Agent 3: That is literally the first place we'd look. Octavio attempted the same plan twice, but I think he knows better than to hide there.**

 **8: But why would he hide in Inkopolis? He hates Inklings.**

 **Agent 3: Because he knows we wouldn't think he'd be here.**

 **9: What about the Salmonids? We have a trade deal with them. Maybe he's hiding there.**

 **Agent 2: But where would he hide there? Salmonids are migratory.**

 **9: Well, there is one place. We call it the Rivers.**

 **Agent 1: I've never heard of that place. Where is it?**

 **9: I'm not exactly sure, but know that it's where most Salmonids go to breed and other stuff. It's where they set up permanent settlements to teach newer generations their ways of life, their ways of battle, but mostly to breed.**

 **Agent 3: You already said that.**

 **9: Because it's mostly what they do there and why they go. That's actually what Salmonids wrote to us goes down there. I'm giving you the G-rated version of that they wrote. You do not want the full details.**

 **Agent 3: Ew.**

 **Agent 8: Would he really go there? I mean, yeah, we're allied with them, but Salmonids have been known to be pretty aggressive. Even attacking our own troops at times. It'd be pretty risky.**

 **Agent 3: Not that I don't care if Octavio is on the loose, but what about 3.5?**

 **Agent 2: We'll have our DJ_Hyperfresh hack into the security systems tomorrow so we can look for clues.**

 **4: Ooooooh…yeah, about that…**

 **Agent 2: What?**

 **4: We kinda sorta made plans for her…**

 **Agent 3: Explain.**

 **9: I asked her if she wanted to help a young Octoling boy on our team who wants to become a DJ. She's going to spend tomorrow giving him some lessons.**

 **Agent 3: Well, tell her to change her plans.**

 **9: She already made the arrangements.**

 **Agent 3: Can't she spend her time doing literally anything useful instead?**

 **4.5: Agent 3, please. Hyperfresh has her own life and she can do with it whatever she wants. She'll be available to help the next day, but she does have a schedule to keep.**

 **CraigCuttlefish: She needs her free time to do her thing or she'll probably pass out from exhaustion.**

 **Agent 3: …OK**

 **Agent 3: Sorry.**

 **CraigCuttlefish: It's fine, Agent 3. I understand how you're feeling. Just relax for a bit and we'll keep looking. We'll get your friend/art-time agent back. That's a promise.**

 **Agent 3: Thanks.**

…

 **Sarah's POV**

I was sitting on my bed in my jammies while Guyver was on the floor in his recently bought jammies.

"Geez, Beth's really getting upset." I felt sorry for her.

"Well, Arnold's been on the team for…how long?" Guyver asked.

"Beth didn't say." I said. "Though it was probably a while and she's the one who picked him, so she's probably under a lot of stress now.

A crash of thunder then sounded, causing Guyver to shiver.

"Speaking of stress, how're you holding up?" I wondered.

"Eheeh…I…might be…fine?" He nervously shrugged.

"You wanna share the bed again?" I guessed.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble…" He shyly admitted.

"Alright, get in." I rolled my eyes and scooted over.

He shyly smiled and crawled in.

"Aw, come on." I jokingly sighed. "You're telling me you're scared of thunder?"

"Of course not!" He lied before a loud boom outside startled him. "…O-okay, I am…I just haven't been in a storm before, so it may take some getting used to…"

"That's fine." I shrugged as I lied down. "I'm here for you."

He lied down too. Back turned to me.

 **Some Time Later…**

I got woken up by another crash of thunder. What time is it? 2:00? Ugh…

Geez, Guyver must be-

Asleep and…clinging to me…

I managed to turn over just enough to see him without waking him up. Oh my Cod, this is adorable. I need a pic of this.

O-kay…reach over for the phone…got it…aaaaand snap!

Nice pic!

Aaaand share.

I then got a text. It was Beth.

 **Agent 3: You too?**

 **4: Wait, the same is happening over there?**

I then received a picture from her.

It was her in in bed with both Mei and Zoey Clinging to her.

 **Agent 3: This is the best worst day of my life.**

 **4: Octolings are clingy, aren't they?**

 **Agent 3: I'm not complaining.**

 **4: Neither am I.**

 **4: So how're you holding up?**

 **Agent 3: Still worried for Arnold.**

 **4: You two close?**

 **Agent 3: He was a rival from back in the day. One day I asked him to help me out. He accepted and he's been taking days I wanted a break on, which wasn't much.**

 **Agent 3: He'd help me out on certain missions though.**

 **4: Sounds like you two are close.**

 **Agent 3: He was basically the only friend that I had in and out of the Splatoon. The Squid Sisters and nice, but I couldn't really hang out with them in the city.**

 **4: Too famous. Right.**

 **4: We'll find Arnie. He gets in trouble sometimes, but he gets out himself or with help.**

 **Agent 3: Yeah, we actually had a good laugh when we found out we both got brainwashed.**

 **Agent 3: Like, what are the odds?**

 **4: What was it like?**

 **Agent 3: I just remember feeling angry. Like all the pent up aggression I had was to be unleashed on my one target. The only thing I could think to do was to kill. Just so happened my target was Mei.**

 **4: Geez, that goop messed you up.**

 **Agent 3: What's scariest is everything at that moment felt natural to me. I wanted to kill Mei with every ounce of energy I had. I removed my limiter because she was just another Octarian. After all they'd done, she didn't deserve a chance.**

 **4: Arnold's wasn't as brutal as yours was, but I doubt it was pleasant. He said he had a painful ringing in his ears for days.**

 **Agent 3: He described it as a voice telling him to kill, but he didn't want to. He could feel his every action and tried his best to stop it, but he couldn't. All he could do was watch as he tried to kill you and hope that he could at least slow down his actions.**

 **4: Otis and I could tell he was fighting it, but Octavio's control was too strong. Otis did say Arnold managed to hold one punch though, and he took that opportunity to knock the headphones off.**

 **Agent 3: Well, if there's one thing I can thank Otis for, it's that.**

 **4: You two should try to get along more.**

 **Agent 3: Well, Arnold tried that once, but I screwed it up.**

 **4: Oh yeah. The Salmon Run and your fight.**

 **Agent 3: Yeah, he hits a lot harder than he did two years ago.**

 **4: Dad would get on his case for that. He's one of those "Never hit a woman" types.**

 **Agent 3: Why?**

 **4: Not sure. He wasn't always like that though. I mean, he didn't like us getting in fights, but it wasn't until sometime later he was strict about that with Otis.**

 **Agent 3: That's weird. How old were you when that happened?**

 **4: I think I was 6 or 7 when he started doing that.**

 **4: I'll have to think about that.**

 **4: Well, I'm going to try to get back to sleep.**

 **Agent 3: Same here.**

I put the phone down, shut my eyes, and despite the storm, managed to fall asleep.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

 **Two Days Later…**

 **Guyver's POV**

We all met up by the cabin. Apparently Marina hijacked an Octarian Flying Saucer last night after hearing of our situation. That…must've been a story…she also started looking into the Octarian security footage. Okay, she knows how to get stuff done.

At the moment, Marie was on the phone with Mr. Notodarus.

"Rest assured, we're working to get your daughter back." Marie said into the phone. "We're just going to investigate areas their leader may have escaped to as well as search for our missing agent."

Not sure what he was saying on the other line, but he didn't sound happy.

"I know, I know." Marie sighed. "Your daughter will be fine. She's too important to them, so they wouldn't dare harm her. Once we figure out a way in, we'll get your daughter…alright…thank you…bye."

She then hung up.

"Well?" I asked.

"Apparently Sieg's started calling Mr. Notodarus and asking if he's changed his mind." Marie told us. "He gets told his daughter is fine, but isn't allowed to see her and isn't told anything about her activities other than 'she's fine'."

"Psychological Warfare." Cap'n Cuttlefish said as he took a sip of tea. "He's purposefully makin' the girl's status vague and let'n Thomas's imagination fill in the blanks."

"Well, we'll just have to tell him not to fall for it." Beth suggested.

"That depends on the person, Three." Cuttlefish told her. "Some people ain't as thick-skinned as others. Now, it may work for a while, but fer how long, we can't know..."

"So what are we doing with the Saucer?" I asked.

"You're going to use it to fly to the Rivers." Marina answered. "Though I know the region it's in, I don't know exactly where and there aren't any coordinates on the ship's map."

"I have an idea!" Mei raised her hand. "What if we got a Salmonling? They can speak Inklish…barely…maybe one of them can tell us?"

"That's not a bad idea…" Marie admitted. "Where would we find one, though?"

"Barnacle Bay Lighthouse." Beth answered. "Remember the staff there said they'd see figures at night. We found out it was the Salmonlings. We can go there, snatch one, and maybe convince it to tell us."

"Hopefully they won't be too hard to handle." Marina said. "I've heard of projects regarding Salmonids, but I haven't even heard of Salmonlings before working with the Splatoon."

"I'll go since they seem more likely to approach an Octoling." Mei volunteered.

"If that's the case, then the more the merrier." I volunteered.

"Hey, I wanna see Salmonlings too!" Sarah volunteered.

"Then it's settled!" Callie chimed in. "You three nab us a Salmonling and the rest of us will look around the city in case the DJ is there while Marina does her Elite hacking stuff!"

We all nodded our heads.

 **Barnacle Bay Lighthouse…Dusk…**

We hid the top of these concrete stairs leading down to a small boardwalk.

Mei volunteered to put the tip of her hair tentacle on a string. We had it leading down the steps, just touching the water.

It was a while, but we soon saw some shadow in the water getting closer to it. We pulled it up slightly.

The figure stopped for a second before slowly reaching its hand out.

We tugged it more.

The creature's hand went back into the water. We thought it was leaving for a second, but it jumped out of the water. From the grey skin, overalls, and Mohawk, yep. It was a Salmonling. We pulled the bait away just in time and it…she…landed on the boardwalk. We pulled the bait up the steps and she followed. They...aren't very smart, are they?

As soon as she got to the top, we grabbed her and pulled her up. She was squirming a lot. We just managed to tie her up when another Salmonling showed up and pounced on Mei. Sarah and I pounced on…him…and tied him up too.

"Awesome!" Sarah cheered. "Two for the price of one!"

"Squid!" One cried out. "Squid and Bad Octupus!"

"That was easier than I thought…" I remarked. "Especially considering this is the first time I've seen one…"

"Well, let's get them over to the cabin." Mei said. "We'll see if they hold up in interrogations…"

 **20 Minutes Later…Cuttlefish Cabin…**

We managed to get the Salmonlings to the cabin without too much fuss. Honestly, I think they became curious as to where they were going after a bit. When we got there, let's just say the others were impressed that we managed to catch two, as well as intrigued to the fact that two living, breathing Salmonlings were right there.

"Where here?" The girl asked.

"Canyon!" The boy answered.

"Sooooo…little guys!" Callie kneeled down in front of them. "Do you know where the Rivers are?"

"All Salmon know!" The girl answered.

"Well, little missy." Cuttlefish walked over. "Can ye tell us where it is?"

"Why funny-looking squid want know?" The boy narrowed his eyes.

"Funny-lookin'?" Cuttlefish was surprised. "You've never seen an old squid before?"

They both shook their heads.

"Well, it's like an old Salmonling, I guess." He guessed.

The two just tilted their heads in confusion.

"How…old are you?" Beth asked.

"One-Four!" They both said in unison.

"14? Well, what's the oldest one you know?" She wondered.

They looked like they were thinking.

"…Eh…One-Six?" The boy guessed.

"I guess Salmonlings are a fairly recent thing." Marina guessed. "There may be no old ones."

"We go now?" The girl asked.

"Lead us to the rivers." Callie said.

"…No." She replied.

"Why nooot?" She whined.

"You squid." The boy said. "You bring Bear."

"We won't bring Bear." Marie said. "Many Inklings and now Octolings work for Grizzco, but the Splatoon isn't affiliated with them."

The two looked unconvinced.

"How about we do something nice for you in return?" Callie suggested.

Their ears perked up a bit at that suggestion, but they tried to pretend to not be interested.

"Ever had cake?" Callie whispered. "Ice cream?"

Their stomachs were growling and mouths were watering at the thought of some kind of food. They act like small children, don't they?

"…What about a burger?" She grinned. "Or how about some fresh gear?"

"…Fresh?" The girl tilted her head. "What fresh?"

"What's fresh?!" Callie was surprised. "Fresh is…fresh is…it's just…like you feel awesome and everyone knows it!"

"We fresh?" The boy asked.

"You can be…" Callie got a mischievous smile. "But first, we need to get to know each other…"

"How?" The girl wondered.

"What are your names?" Callie asked.

"Oh Oh!" The girl volunteered first. "Me name Klaaaaaaaghhhhhhh!"

Callie paused a second, taken aback by that screech.

"But you call Small Fin!" The girl continued.

"…How about Finnia?" Callie suggested.

"Oooooooh…" She seemed to like the name.

"And what's your name?" Callie turned to the boy and pinched his cheek. "You adorable thing!"

"Skreeeeeeeeeklk!" The boy screeched.

"…A-and that means…?" Callie tilted her head.

"Biter!" He then closed his mouth right on Callie's hand.

"…GAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Callie howled in pain. "WHY?! WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE HAND?!"

It was a few more seconds of that before we managed to get the Salmonling off and bandage Callie's hand. We decided rather than Biter or Bitey, we'd call him Terry. Seemed simple enough and he readily accepted it. Though, this may take a while…


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

 **Some Time Later…**

"Ugh…" I woke up. "W-what happened…?"

I then realized I was on a bed and tied up.

"Oh, you're finally awake!" An all-too-familiar voice spoke. "For a second, I thought I'd killed you…that would've been…ahaaaaaa…"

It was Cass. I started shifting to break free, but I couldn't shift.

"Oh, you can't shift out of those, Arnie." Cass informed me. "That's the same material we used to tie up Cuttlefish."

"Aw great…" I sighed. "This…this is a weird prison cell…"

"It's not a cell; it's my room in the Canyon." She corrected me.

"You have a room in the Canyon?" I was confused.

"Well, it's actually Sieg's room, reserved for him for visits. He insisted he didn't need a room in the Canyon, but he got one anyway." She explained. "I asked him if I could store stuff in here if he wasn't going to use it and he reluctantly agreed since it'd be getting some use out of it."

"Right…" I sat up. "So why am I here? What do you want?"

"You." She answered, sitting on the bed I was on.

"Me?" I was more confused. "What do you want me for?"

I got my answer when she pulled me in and pressed her lips against mine.

I pulled away.

"What?" She whined.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

"You were right…" She looked me in the eye. "I felt something…I wasn't sure what it was at first, but I want you here…with me…"

"Cass, I doubt you do." I said.

"Hey, give me a chance!" She practically begged. "I'll show you I'm serious about this! You'll see…after I'm done with you, you won't ever want to leave…"

"Preeeety sure a relationship requires consent!" Another familiar-sounding voice called from the other room.

"Shut up!" Cass yelled. "You actually get Elise to fall for you and maybe I'll accept your relationship advice!"

There was no response.

"…Yeah, that's what I thought…" Cass's gaze then returned to me.

"He has a point though." I added.

"Hey, you're only tied up so you don't run away." She told me. "Once I'm sure you won't just run away, I'll untie you, and then we can embrace each other like other times. Only this time, no interruptions and hopefully you won't wimp out again."

"You're really desperate, aren't you?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I'm desperate." She glared at me. "I've been trying to get with someone for years and it never goes anywhere. Ever."

"Maybe it's your personality." I guessed. "Not sure why you'd want me though. I've screwed up several times recently, partially your fault, I fight Octarians, and I'm nothing special looks-wise."

"I think you look perfect." She said, leaning forward and stroking my hair-tentacles.

Okay, my face got a little red there.

"I-it's going to take more than flattery to convince me you're relationship material." I stated. "You flatter everyone."

"I'll do more…" She smiled. "Promise…now, anything you'd like?"

"I'm starving." I told her.

"Already have food prepared!" she said, grabbing a plate from an end table. "Open wide…"

Great…

 **Some Time Earlier…Guyver's POV**

We soon were able to untie the Salmonlings, though kept them on a leash tied to their waists.

"Alright, if we're going to help each other," An annoyed Callie started talking. "No biting!"

"I no promise, but try." Terry the Salmonling said.

"Good." Callie nodded. "Now, how about you tell us where the Rivers are?"

Callie then pulled out a World Map.

"What that?" Finnia the Salmonling asked.

"You…don't know what a map is, do you?" Marie guessed.

The two Salmonlings both shook their heads.

"Don't you learn that stuff in your Octarian military training or something?" I asked.

"No there yet." Terry replied. "Us swim outside."

So they're just basic guards…

"But you do know the way to the Rivers." I pointed out. "Can you show us?"

"Why?" Terry asked.

Suddenly, out of the manhole came Beth with a bag. Just in time.

She then handed the bag to me.

"How's this sound?" I reached into the bag and held out a wrapped burger. They immediately started sniffing the air and trying to get closer, only to be stopped by the leashes. It's clear they wanted the food.

"Hey now," I backed away. "Agree to help us and we'll give you all of these good-smelling and tasting foods in return."

They were thinking about it. I decided to slowly wave the sandwich in front of their faces. Their eyes tracked the movement of it. Their mouths were watering…and drooling…ew…

"GrrrrAAAAGH!" Finnia yelled. "This torture!"

"We agree, just give food!" Terry begged. "Terry starving!"

I grabbed another burger out of the bag and threw the sandwiches towards them. They wasted no time picking them up and practically inhaling the food…wrappers included…

"Great food…" Terry sighed.

"Yum…" Finnia sighed too.

"Now, can you help us?" I asked. "We gave you what you wanted, so it's only fair, right?"

They looked at each other, feeling guilty that they took the food, and reluctantly nodded their heads.

"It uh…" Terry squinted his eyes at the map. "No read that."

"I…show way?" Finnia suggested.

We all looked at each other.

"That works…" Marie said.

"Yayer!" Callie agreed. "Let's find us some Salmon-land!"

"We've got to think though…" Cuttlefish said. " We can't send everyone to these 'Rivers' and leave the city unprotected. We also can't leave 3.5 behind. I suggest we split up. Some on the IFO, some into the Canyon, and some in the city."

"Right…" Sarah nodded her head. "Cap'n you're old, so you stay to watch the city."

"I've can still kick some keester y'know," Cuttlefish reminded her. "But not as much as I used to. I'll stay in the city. As for the rest of you…"

 **The Plan**

The plan was simple: Divide to cover more ground.

Sarah, Callie, and I will go on the saucer to the Rivers.

Beth and Mei will search the Canyon for Arnold after Marina finds something on the cameras, while Cap'n Cuttlefish, Marie, and Otis will stay in the city to keep watch.

While Off the Hook would also stay in the city as well, Pearl will occasionally help out with searching for Arnold, and Marina will not only check the cameras in the canyon, but will also use her computer to remotely operate the Flying Saucer. She'll fly us there, we'll look around, and we'll fly back if we find Octavio there or somewhere else.

All the while, Cap'n Cuttlefish and the others will have to find a way into Octo Gorge to rescue Alice Notodarus.

All of this, and I'm not even technically an agent…I mean neither are Arnold and Otis, but they don't even call me one…what would they even call me? I used to go by Nine, but that was when I lost my memory. There's even someone else called Nine, so…8.5? I don't know…

Well, it's into the Salmon Lands now…

 **To Be Continued...**


End file.
